The Power of Love
by Senshi of Valis
Summary: Looks like Phobos may actually have a bit of a softer side, or does he? WillPhobos, CorneliaCaleb
1. Chapter 1

The Power of Love (Working Title…Suggestions?)

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

CH33T4H: I brought in a buddy of mine to do the disclaimer so here it goes.

FOAMY: This is bullshit, I'm a squirrel not some trained dog to jump through hoops for you! Fine…let's just get this the hell over with. These girls do NOT own W.i.t.c.h….what kind of screwed up name is that?

CH33T4H: Do you want the bagel or not?

FOAMY: Fine, they don't own W.i.t.c.h. Disney or whoever the hell does own it is the owners. If you are here and thinking these girls own it then you need to have your eyes poked out with a damn flame. And to those stupid bastards who do nothing but flame…screw you and get a life…stupid bastards…you're all stupid, you hear me!

CH33T4H: Eheh, thank you Foamy I think that is more than enough.

FOAMY: Thank you, signed your lord and master, Foamy. Now where's my bagel and the creamy creamy cheesey.

CH33T4H: And Foamy is owned by Jonathan Ian Mathers, all hail the Mathers.

FOAMY: Creamy Cheeeseyyyyyyyyyyyy

SENSHI: Don't pay any attention to the two psychos. This story is rated for language, violence, cutting and rape. You have been warned.

CH33T4H: I am not psycho, I'm L33T.

SENSHI: Anyways, Phobos and Cedric have no idea what the Guardians look like and they have no idea what Phobos looks like though they know what Cedric looks like in both forms. This will be a mix of the book and cartoon with heavy influence from the cartoon.

It was just past ten o'clock at night and Ted Olsen, the owner of Olsen's Pet Shop and grandfather of Matt Olsen, sighed as he finished watering and feeding the last puppy. There had been a lot of drop offs the last few days of unwanted puppies and kittens which had prompted Ted to offer the people the chance to get their pets fixed for free at a vet Ted knew so this wouldn't keep happening. A few of the families happily accepted which made Ted happy that he could help and keep unwanted baby animals ending up on the street without any shelter or anyone to love them.

This is what he loved to do though; he loved taking care of animals though he had to admit he was getting a little old to handle by himself. He didn't want to quit though, he was one of the best pet shops around though some people hated him and even accused him of discrimination. If discrimination was not selling a pet to somebody who seemed like they knew nothing about said pet and didn't seem to even really care about it then Ted was guilty of it. He refused to sell an animal to someone he felt might end up abusing it or throwing it out.

This big increase in pets lately though made it a little hard for him to handle it all himself and since he wasn't really feeling all too well he had called and asked Will to come help him clean and feed the pets and help watch the shop until closing. She was supposed to be there at six o'clock but she never showed up and all calls to her home and cell went unanswered.

Ted understood that Will was a teenager with friends and so many other things that she could be doing so he wasn't really angry that she may have forgotten. He was disappointed in her though as she never seemed very flakey or forgetful. In fact, Will was a very bright, smart and beautiful girl who Matt was a fool for dumping recently which could have been why she didn't show up but Ted knew she would have never agreed to come in if she didn't mean it which also led him to being a little worried as well.

Sighing as he pulled his trench coat off of the coat rack and put his hat on he turned out the lights after saying goodnight to the little ones in the store. He walked out of the front door and turned as he fished the keys out of a pocket. He looked through the keys until finding the right one and locked the door then started walking slowly to the alley a block away from the store which would pretty much take him straight to Will's home not far away from there. It would be easier to walk there than drive the van since it wasn't far and there really wasn't any parking for visitors at the apartment building. He wanted to check up on her and make sure everything was okay before heading home.

As he walked he kept a close eye out around him, while there really wasn't much crime here in Heatherfield there was still some. He always made sure to be aware of his surroundings anywhere he went even if it was daylight out. That was a habit he had for a long time, he had made a lot of enemies from the people who he deemed unworthy to sell pets too. While the most any of them ever really did was prank call the store Ted was still always careful.

Turning to go down the dark alley Ted almost had second thoughts as he thought it may have been safer going the long way instead. As he started to turn back though he noticed a bicycle that looked very familiar and it made his blood turn cold. It was Will's bike, the one she rode everywhere even though she now had a license. She always said she rather rode her bike and got the exercise than be lazy and drive everywhere she could walk to in less than ten minutes.

A soft noise drew his attention away from the bike causing him to follow carefully behind a dumpster that sat out from the wall a few feet. There was a figure lying in the shadow and it sounded like they were crying. Carefully he moved closer to the figure and wanted to wake up from the nightmare he was in. Will was laying on the ground barely moving, he could tell her clothes were in tatters and though it was hard to see he was sure he could see blood and bruises on her.

Ted pulled off his coat and pulled Will up as she struggled weakly. He carefully wrapped his coat around her and lifted her up with a little effort and he felt his heart shatter at her protest.

"Please…please don't…hurt me…please." Will cried weakly as she struggled a little more.

"Shh…" Ted said quietly though trying to sound comforting and loving as he did, "It's okay Will, it's Mister Olsen and I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to take you to the hospital, okay."

"Mister Olsen?" Will croaked out, pulling the coat tighter around her the best she could, shaking.

"Yes honey, we're going to the hospital now. Okay?" Ted said as he walked carefully while protecting his precious cargo. He was going back to his van to drive her to the hospital since it was on the other side of town. He prayed that she was okay, that she would be okay but he was very worried as tears threatened to spill when they got out of the alley and under a street light. Will had a black eye and her lip was split and bleeding.

"I'm sorry…I tried to…I tried to come…" Will cried as she buried her face into the folds of the coat trying to hide.

"Will, everything will be okay." Ted said reassuringly, squeezing her gently, "There's nothing for you too be sorry about."

Ted sighed as he felt Will's breathing even out as she fell asleep. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing though since he did hear a lot of things about injured people needing to stay awake. That was one thing he was starting to wish he knew more about since he never really needed to know much about human injuries much since he usually preferred spending a lot of time around his animals instead. There wasn't any senseless arguing and fighting that people always tended to fall into.

Carefully Ted opened the passenger door and sat Will up in the seat reclining it and securing the seat belt around her. He shut the door carefully then and hurried around to the driver's side and climbed in pulling the seat belt on as he did. He pulled down the sun visor and caught the keys as they fell from it and found the ignition key and tried to start the van and cursed at it silently as it refused to turn over. He tried again and sighed in relief as it not only turned over it actually started.

Putting the van in reverse he backed out of the parking space and then put in drive and stepped on the gas. He drove quickly though carefully so not to disturb his passenger as he sped to the hospital thanking his lucky stars that the one police cruiser he passed didn't pull him over for speeding. He made it to the hospital in just a few minutes and stopped just outside the emergency room and put the van in park and turned it off and pocketed the keys instead of returning them to their usual spot.

Hurrying around the van Ted pulled the door open and freed Will of the seatbelt and pulled her free of the van not bothering shutting the door behind them. He rushed into the near empty lobby and to the triage where two nurses were sitting.

"May I help you, Sir?" one of the nurses asked.

"She needs a doctor…I found her in the alley like this." Ted said, fighting for breath as the nurse stood up and leaned over the desk and pulled the coat back a little and gasped. She picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers.

"I need someone in here to pick up an unconscious girl who has been beaten severely." The nurse said then paused for a few moments before continuing. "Yes, of course, thank you."

The nurse hung up the phone as three more nurses or doctors, two men and one woman, came out of the door next to the desk. The men pushed a bed and indicated for Ted to put Will down on it. "What exactly happened to her?" the woman asked.

"I don't know…I was going home…I was going to see her and found her in an alley." Ted gasped as the men wheeled her back through the door.

"May will give you some paperwork you need to fill out while we see to her then we'll have some questions for you so make sure you don't go anywhere." The woman said, turning and following the men and Will.

Ted started to follow but the nurse behind the desk stopped him, handing him a clipboard and pen. "Sir, we need to fill this out to the best of your ability." The woman said.

"But Will." Ted said staring at the doors Will just disappeared through.

"She will be fine Sir, she'll be taken very good care off but they need room to work. She's your grand daughter?" the woman asked, Ted realized this must have been May the other woman was talking about.

"N-No…but she's close enough to be." Ted said.

"Do you have a number where her parents can be reached?" May asked.

"Yes, do you have a phone I can use then I'll start on these." Ted replied as he indicated the clipboard.

"Sure, it's over there by the magazine rack." May said pointing to the rack and small table next to it with a phone sitting there. "Just dial nine to get an outside line."

"Thank you." Ted said and walked slowly over to the phone trying to figure out what to say to Susan. This is something Ted never had to deal with but now that he did he was lost on what to do other than wanting to be there for the girl he truly did see as his grand daughter. He knew at first Will wanted to work at the pet shop partly in hopes of seeing more of Matt but then Ted and Will started forming there own special bond. Will had became the granddaughter he never had and Ted loved her dearly. She was like family to him and this was tearing him apart seeing her like that. He swore to himself as he picked up the phone that he'd make whoever did that to Will pay.

The phone rang several times before Susan finally picked up, a little bit of worry in her voice as she said, "Hello, Vandom residence."

"Susan, its me, Mister Olsen." Ted said with a sigh, "I'm calling…it's Will…"

"Will, what's wrong, where is she? Its almost eleven o'clock!" Susan said, wavering between worry and anger.

"I'm at the hospital, I found her in an alley." Ted said as he rubbed his eyes fighting back the tears that were a constant in his eyes since he found Will.

"What's wrong with her?" Susan asked with fear in her voice as Ted was sure he heard her crying. "What happened?"

"I don't know, I was coming to visit to see if she was okay when I left the shop since she didn't show up. I found her in an alley on the way there…She…She looks like someone beat her up pretty badly." Ted said, the tears no longer held back as the slowly started falling.

"I'm on my way." Susan said as she hung up the phone.

Ted fought to regain control for several minutes before concentrating on the clip board, looking over the paperwork and was surprised a little when he could answer pretty much everything on there like birthdate, a lot of the family history like her father having a heart attack, and how everything else. It took him several minutes to finish as it was hard going over how he found her. Just as he was finishing up though he saw Tom Lair walking in through the doors into the lobby.

"Hi Ted." Tom said waving at him.

"Hi." Ted said getting up and taking the clipboard with his as he walked over to greet his long time friend, the man who had been friends with Ted's son all through high school.

"What are you doing here?" Tom asked as he seemed to be waiting for the nurse to finish with something on the computer. "Are you okay?"

"I am." Ted said sadly, looking at the tiles on the floor. "But I found Will hurt badly and brought her here."

"Oh shit." Tom growled, "Wh-What happened?"

"I don't know but she was beat up pretty badly." Ted said.

"She…she is back there now…" Tom asked, fear in his eyes as he looked back to the doors leading back to the emergency rooms.

"Yeah…I brought her in not too long ago." Ted replied, looking worriedly at Tom. He must have been there to take a report of some kind because if one of one of the Lair family was in the hospital Ted was sure he would find out either by Tom himself or by Will who was friends with Irma, Tom's daughter.

"I'm here to take a report on an assault on a minor and possible…rape…" Tom said, his face going pale as Ted snapped his face up to lock eyes with the younger man.

"Oh god no…" Ted whispered, shaking his head as the tears resumed. "What kind of monster would do that to her…she never did anything to anyone…she didn't deserve for this to happen."

"I don't know Ted, but no one deserves that." Tom sighed, "I swear I'll make the piece of shit who hurt her pay for it."

"Are you finished with the papers?" May asked as she looked up at Ted. Ted nodded and handed the clipboard and pen to the woman and rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. There was no way this was happening, it couldn't be/

"Thank you, Sir. If you will have a seat the doctor will be out to question you soon. Also, I'm sure Captain Lair would like to question you as well." May said indicating Tom.

"Sure." Ted said as he wearily made his way over to a seat and fell back into it. He watched as the other nurse at the desk got up and led Tom through the doors. Leaning back into the chair he tried to think of something else but couldn't, he was too worried for Will. Was she really okay? Who could have hurt her like that? Yes bad things happened in Heatherfield but this? Will didn't deserve this but Ted was beginning to think it was his fault. After all if he didn't asked her to come help out then she never have been hurt in the first place.

Ted was brought out of his thoughts when Susan rushed into the lobby and straight to the desk. Ted could hear her crying as she demanded to know where Will was and wanted to know what happened and what they was doing for her. The nurse told Susan to take a seat and the doctor would be out in a moment to talk to her. Ted watched nervously as Susan walked slowly over towards him and sat down next to him.

"Thank you for bringing Will here, Ted." Susan said, wiping her eyes as she tried to compose herself. It was easy to see how scared and worried she was for Will. Ted took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Will is a strong girl, Susan, I'm sure she'll be okay." Ted said, hoping that he was right.

"Thanks, Ted." Susan said as she tried to smile at him but it failed completely as she started crying again.

"Mrs. Vandom?" the woman doctor from earlier said as she sat down next to Susan, "I'm Doctor Smith."

"How is my daughter?" Susan asked.

"Well…" Doctor Smith said glancing around the waiting room as Ted noticed it was empty, "We are still waiting for some of the tests to come back but she seems to be physically in better shape than we first thought. She suffered several bruises, a black eye and a split lip. There is nothing broken though which we were worried about earlier and there is no serious injuries. However…she was also raped…We did a complete rape kit as well as gave her some medication to prevent her from getting pregnant."

"Can I see her?" Susan asked softly, tears falling even faster as she shook slightly.

"Not yet, but soon." Doctor Smith said, "We have samples so if she will press charges and tell us who it is we can have evidence against them. Captain Lair is going to take some and have checked out at the station for any DNA matches but without your daughter's help it can take awhile and might even come up without anything."

"Come on, I'll take you both back to see her while we wait for the tests but you need to be quiet." Doctor Smith said standing up, "Afterwards Captain Lair will want to question you both."

"Thank you." Susan said as Ted got up and helped her up. Ted was nervous as he followed Susan, he was so worried about Will and Susan. Even if Will didn't press charges if Ted found out who it was that did this he'd make sure to make them pay for it.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN:

Senshi: Wow, my first major collaboration. I know its dark now but it'll get lighter as time goes by.

CH33T4H: I don't give a damn if it is dark, you girl are queen of the dark and should be proud of it. You should edit some of your goth stories and post them and not worry about what some stupid shit who doesn't know what fanfiction is has to say about them.


	2. Chapter 2

The Power of Love (Any suggestions for a better title?)

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

CH33T4H: Damn, we actually got the second chappie out pretty quickly.

SENSHI: I'm surprised myself, though I was hoping to start Will's point of view in this one.

CH33T4H: Momentai, starting next chapter it will be mainly Will's POV for most of the remaining story.

SENSHI: And some Phobos and maybe a little bit of the others here and there.

CH33T4H: Whatever. Since Foamy did such a great job I decided to have him back.

FOAMY: Why the hell can't you choke on a biscotti and leave me the hell alone?

CH33T4H: Because you are so damned cute .

FOAMY: You're a damned sicko, you hear me. Fricking sicko. Fine, they don't own me or W.i.t.c.h. If you are here, reading this crap and still believe they own it then you need to have you're weirdo head examined you freaking weirdo. And I don't want to see any flames either or I'll shove them all up your ass and light them on fire you bastard! Signed, Your Lord and Master, Foamy. P.S. Somebody save me from this psycho!

CH33T4H: Eheh, forget that last line.

Susan was finding it hard to breathe as she followed the doctor into a small sterile room with a single bed in the middle with the most important person in the world laying in it. Will's red hair was a bright contrast to the rest of the bleak room as it fell across the pillow and her face. Her eyes, usually so full of life and happiness were now dull and red from crying, one a little swelled and black from where someone had hit her. Susan was sure that that wasn't the only evidence of what had happened but the small blanket covering Will hid any other marks.

"Are you okay, Will?" Susan asked, her voice cracking as she hurried over to sit on the side of the bed. It was a stupid question, Susan knew it, but she wasn't too sure what else to say. She had failed to protect her little girl and now Will was laying here in the hospital because of it. A part of Susan's mind was trying to tell her that there was no way she could have known what was going to happen to Will but deep down in her heart Susan felt that she should have done something.

"What do you care?" Will asked hoarsely, her voice so full of pain and anger as she turned to look at the wall away from Susan.

"Will?" Susan said softly, fighting back tears as she reached out to stroke her daughter's hair gently. "I do care. Oh god Will, you are the most important thing in this world to me. If I could take your place I would in a heartbeat."

"I'm…I'm sorry, mom." Will said as she turned back to face Susan, confusion dancing in her eyes as well as fear and anger.

"It's okay, honey." Susan said as she bent over to kiss Will's forehead, "I know you're hurting right now but I'm here for you."

"I am too, Will." Ted said coming up beside Susan and putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently in support. "We both love you very much you know."

"Y-You do?" Will asked, surprise plainly in her voice.

"Of course, honey. You are so much like a granddaughter to me you know." Ted said, "If you need anything, either of you, I'll be there."

"Thanks Ted." Susan said, reaching up to put her hand on his where it was on her shoulder and squeezed gently. She was really touched by what he just said, she could tell that he meant it and it meant a lot knowing that someone else cared that much for Will. Susan now knew why Will spent so much time at that pet store.

A gentle knock came on the door before Tom slowly came in, looking at everyone nervously. Susan didn't know what to do, she wasn't sure if Will was up to talking about it but whoever did this needed to be caught and punished. They needed to pay for what they did to her little girl.

"I'm really sorry to intrude but I was wondering if you would be up to making a statement Will so we can catch this monster." Tom said, wringing his hands nervously before fishing a small notebook and pen from his jacket pocket. "Do you know who it was who did it or can you possibly give a description?"

"No." Will said, making it sound so final. Susan wasn't sure what to think about that. Did Will mean that no she didn't know who it was or no she couldn't give a description. If she couldn't at least give a description then how was the bastard going to be caught?

"Sorry?" Tom asked.

"No, I'm not going to give a description and no I'm not pressing charges." Will said, the anger in her voice growing. "I know my rights and I know I don't have to say anything and I don't want to. All I want to do is forget this damned night ever happened so leave me the HELL ALONE!"

"I-I'm sorry, Will." Tom said, shaking his head sadly. "If you change your mind, you know where I'm at."

"I'm not going to change my mind." Will whispered, shaking a little as she settled back to stare at the wall again, ignoring everyone.

"I think you should let her get some rest." Doctor Smith said as she came into the room, "If I may talk to you Mrs. Vandom."

Susan kissed Will again on the head, "I'll be right outside if you need anything, honey. I love you."

After a few seconds without a response Susan sighed and got up to follow Ted, Tom and the doctor from the room as her heart seemed to shatter into a million pieces. All she wanted to do is curl up into a ball and cry but she couldn't do that right now. She had to be strong for her daughter, Will needed her mother right now not a crying wreck.

"Tom," Susan said after they left the room and closed the door softly behind them. "I'm sorry Will snapped at you like that. She's just in a lot of pain and…"

"It's okay, Susan, really. You don't have to explain it to me I know she's just lashing out. If she comes around call me but don't force her, it'll only drive her away." Tom said. Susan could see the worry in Tom's eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking about. He was most likely trying to come to grips with what happened and trying to figure out what he'd do if it was Irma who was laying in there right now and not Will.

"Mrs. Vandom, can you come with me please." Doctor Smith asked and Susan nodded then followed the woman down the hall a little and into a small room with two chairs against one wall with a small stand and phone between them, a small coffee table in the middle with a stack of magazines spread out across it, and a bench against the wall opposite the chairs against that wall with a stand on each end with some kind of fake flowers on each. Doctor Smith took a chair and indicated the bench where Susan sat down at.

"Mrs. Vandom…" Doctor Smith began.

"Susan." Susan interrupted.

"Susan, I know this is hard for you and I know it's going to be very hard on Will. That's why I wanted to tell you about a counseling center in the community center where you both can get free counseling if you need it as well as information for support groups. I don't know if there are support groups here in Heatherfield but I believe there is a support group about thirty minutes from here if you can drive it. Here is a card for Whitney Mayes, she is the counselor here in heather field though and she can help you." Doctor Smith said as she handed Susan a card. It was a simple white card with red lettering with Whitney's name, saying she was a therapist and the phone number where she can be contacted at. "I'm so sorry about what happened to your daughter, we don't really get many cases like this here. In fact this is the only one since I started here last year. Will seems like a strong girl though and I'm sure she'll pull through this just fine."

"Thank you." Susan said, she knew the doctor was trying to help but it sounded more like a speech the woman was practicing than having much emotion behind it but looking into the woman's eyes Susan was sure the woman did care. Maybe this was just hard for her, she did say that she just started last year and this was the only case like this that she had ever seen. The woman probably just didn't know what to do or say and was just trying to avoid upsetting Susan anymore.

"Will seems to be okay and all the tests that I've gotten back are okay. Will can stay here overnight for observations if you want, normally I recommend it, or she's free to go home which personally I feel is best. It would probably do her good to get out of here and into the comfort of her own home." Doctor Smith said.

"I'd like to take her home, thank you." Susan said, relieved after she was worried that they were going to make Will stay here overnight if not longer. If they were going to release her then physically Will really was okay.

"Your welcome and I'm sorry to bring this up but May needed to get your insurance information. I'll go get Will ready while you talk to her." Doctor Smith said.

"Thank you." Susan said, sighing mentally to herself. She didn't want to deal with paperwork, she wanted to hold her daughter and tell her everything was going to be okay. Actually, she didn't even want to be there, she wanted to be home now with Will in bed and none of this ever happening.

Susan walked slowly out to the lobby where Ted was sitting though he really didn't look very well at the moment. Susan was a little worried about him and started to go over to him until May stopped her with a clipboard holding a few sheets of paper on it.

"I just need a copy of your insurance card and for you to sign a few papers." May said as Susan took the clipboard and sighed. Susan fished through her purse looking for her insurance card until she found it and handed it to the woman.

"I'll make a copy of this real quick if you'll just sign by the x on those pages on the bottom." May said while taking the card and moving to the far wall behind the desk where a copy machine was sitting and started running the card through it. Susan signed the papers May had indicated not really bothering with reading them over. She didn't care about paperwork right now.

"Okay, all done." May said coming back over and handing the card back to Susan and taking back the clipboard. "Doctor Smith will be out in a few minutes with your daughter, Mrs. Vandom. I really hope everything will be all right."

"Thank you." Susan said then turned to Ted who was sitting quietly by himself though it looked like he was starting to turn kind of red. Susan walked over and sat down next to him while taking his hand and squeezing it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Ted said though he sounded a little weary, "I'm just really worried about Will and I guess I'm tired."

"Do you want a ride home?" Susan asked.

"I'm okay, I have my van out front." Ted said, his breathing a little heavy.

"Thank you for everything, Ted." Susan said as she kissed Ted on the cheek.

"The only thanks I want is for you to promise to take good care of Will." Ted said, a sadness forcing its way into his voice.

"Of course I will, Will is the most important thing in my life." Susan said.

"Even more important than that school teacher?" Ted asked, a slight hint of anger in his voice.

"I…I all ready told Dean we needed to take a break anyways." Susan said.

"I'm sorry, Susan, but I know how Will feels about him. I just think that maybe for now it would be a good idea not to upset Will." Ted said, sighing. "I know you care for Dean, Susan but…"

"I know, Ted. I don't think he will even be a problem anymore after I told him. He was pretty pissed off but our relationship was causing me my relationship with my daughter and if I have to choose I chose Will and always will." Susan said, "I don't want to think about him right now though, Ted. Will needs me, I don't have time to be feeling sorry for myself."

"Susan, I really am sorry about Dean and you." Ted said.

"It's okay, I'll get over that and who knows, maybe someday later we might work things out but for now I have more important things to worry about." Susan said as the doors by the desk opened and Doctor Smith walked out with Will who was wearing what must have been borrowed clothes. She was wearing a long, black skirt and an oversized white t-shirt with red sleeves with the Karmilla logo on the front.

Susan got up and walked over to Will and wanted to break down crying when Will looked away, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. She was limping a little and favoring her right side but she refused any help from the doctor.

"Are you ready, honey?" Susan asked as she stepped up to Will and hugged Will.

"Can I say something to Mr. Olsen first mom?" Will asked softly.

"Of course, honey." Susan said, kissing the top of Will's head then releasing her. She walked with Will over to where Ted was getting up.

"Thank you, Mr. Olsen for bringing me here." Will said quietly, almost too low to hear as she avoided even his eyes.

"It's okay, Will." Ted said, hugging Will momentarily which caused her to stiffen. Will refused to meet Ted's eyes still though when they separated. "Please take care of yourself."

"I will, thanks." Will said as she moved closer to Susan.

"Thanks, Ted." Susan said as she put her arm around Will's shoulder and held her close. "Take care."

"You too Susan, drive safely." Ted said as Susan turned toward the exit and started to walk with Will out to the parking lot. It was dark out but the parking lights gave plenty of light though Will stayed tense and kept looking everywhere though she tried to hide it.

"Its okay, honey." Susan said squeezing Will gently.

"I know mom." Will sighed.

Susan pulled the keys from her purse and pushed a button on the keychain and a small beep and a quick flash of lights from their car let her know that the doors were now unlocked. Opening the passenger door Susan helped Will into the car and shut the door. Susan then went around to the driver's side and climbed in and started the car. Looking down at the clock she noticed that it was now a past one in the morning and sighed mentally wishing that she would just wake up from this nightmare.

The ride home was pretty quiet with Will staring out the window refusing to talk at all. Susan even tried to get her to say something but Will still stayed quiet which was so unusual for Will to do. Will always made all of her opinions vocal no matter what they were which had led to so many fights lately, all of them which Susan wished she could take back.

Susan pulled into the parking lot and shut the car off after turning the lights off and Will climbed out of the car and shut the door heading toward the building but slowed down as Susan got out of the car and locked it with the push of the button on her keychain. Susan hurried to catch up with Will who was shaking a little.

"Will, are you okay?" Susan asked as she put her arm around Will's shoulder causing her to tense up.

"I-I'm fine." Will said a little shakily.

"If you're sure." Susan said walking with Will into the building to the elevator. Susan pushed the call button and after a few moments the elevator doors opened letting the two get into the empty elevator. After they was in Susan pushed their floor number and the doors closed with a 'ding' and the elevator slowly made its way up. After a few moments and another 'ding' the doors opened again letting the two off. They walked quietly down the hall to their apartment which Susan unlocked and let Will in who quickly turned on the light with a sigh of relief.

"I'm going to take a bath." Will said as she headed to her room.

"Do you want something to eat?" Susan asked as Will walked away.

"I'm not hungry, I just want a bath and some sleep." Will said as she entered her room and a few moments later came back carrying what looked like her pink sweats and pink nightshirt with a frog on the front of it.

Susan sighed as Will went into the bathroom and shut the door. She wasn't sure what to do, Will was hardly talking to her and anything she was saying wasn't much. Dropping her purse on the table Susan went to Will's room and opened the closet and found a small box in the back that had a few old things in it that Will never hardly used anymore. Digging through it Susan found what she was looking for, the frog nightlight Will used to use when she was younger. Susan plugged it into the wall and was surprised but glad to see it working.

Looking around the room Susan saw the pictures hanging on the walls and sitting on various surfaces. One of them drew her attention though, one where Susan and Will went on vacation to Disney World before all of the trouble that happened in Fadden Hills. They were so close back then but now? Susan cried for a few minutes wishing that they could just go back and never have even came to this city. Maybe they would have still been close like they were in that picture.

Rubbing at her eyes Susan looked away and dried her tears, she couldn't do this right now. She needed to be strong for Will who just came into the room with her hair still slightly damp.

"Mom?" Will asked confused before noticing the nightlight then smiled as she sat down on her bed, "You know I don't need a night light."

"I know, dear." Susan said sitting down next to Will, reaching out to brush the hair out of her face as Will tried to look away. "Will, you know I love you, right? I love you and I'll be here for you."

Will refused to answer for several moments as she looked down, hiding her eyes from Susan. After several moments Will started to shake slightly before saying, her voice strained, "Do you really?"

"Of course I do." Susan said as she pulled Will into a hug. Will collapsed into Susan's arms sobbing, shaking as Susan rocked her gently and rubbed her back. "I love you so much Will."

"I-I'm so sorry." Will cried, "I'm sorry."

"Shhhh…Will, you have nothing to be sorry for. I love you so much." Susan said. Susan held Will as she shook, crying loudly until she started to quiet down. After a short while Will started breathing regularly as she fell asleep. Susan gently pushed her back in the bed and pulled the covers up over her and kissed her head goodnight. "I will always love you, Will. You are the most important thing to me in this world."

XXXXXXXXXX

AN:

SENSHI: Hi everyone, hope everyone is liking this. Next chapter will be Will's point of view and it will stay that way for most of the story except for Phobos and a few inserts from the other guardians here and there.

CH33T4H: Make sure you check out what happens to Cornelia the next chapter. LOL.

SENSHI: You don't have to laugh about it.

CH33T4H: Sure I do, it's going to be funny.

SENSHI: Anyways, to a witchfan girl, thanks but as for who hurt Will it may not be revealed for a few chapters since CH33T4H wants to keep it in suspense though I actually wanted to reveal it in this chapter, sorry.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne


	3. Chapter 3

The Power of Love (Any suggestions for a better title?)

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

CH33T4H: Without further ado, heeeerrrreeeeeeees Foamy!

FOAMY: Not this bullshit again, oh hell no. I'm getting so sick of this crap. What the hell do I look like anyways?

BEGLEY: You look like a fooking wanker at the moment, mate.

FOAMY: Oh yeah, well screw you! Just because this airhead wants me to say that her friend and her doesn't own this W.i.t.c.h. or us doesn't mean I'm going to. What is she going to do, hurt me if I don't? NYAaAaA, I'm so scared.

BEGLEY: Right mate, you just said it.

FOAMY: What? Dammit!

CH33T4H: Thank you boys, and now on with the story.

FOAMY: Damn it, I won't say it again!

CH33T4H: Say what?

FOAMY: That you girls don't own W.i.t.c.h. or Neurotically Yours.

CH33T4H: You just did.

FOAMY: Screw you, I'm out of here.

BEGLEY: Right, well then.

Will gasped as she bolted to a sitting position in her bed, fighting to get her breathing under control from her nightmare. She dreamed that she was on running late to the pet shop when she bumped into that jerk. She was angry with him at the time but she still stopped to see what he wanted then he started telling her how much he hated her, his putrid alcohol laced breath making her nauseous the closer he got to her. When the first strike came though she started to call on the heart for help but more strikes came, too many and too fast until he was tearing at her clothes and forcing her to the ground and pinning her there, forcing himself on her.

"It was all a dream." Will whispered to herself, trying to ignore the dull pain throbbing throughout her body. Reaching up to rub her eyes she winced when she felt the tender bruising around her eye. She drew her knees to her chest and buried her face into the crook and started crying, begging for it to have been a dream though the reality was making itself known through the constant pulsing pain that seemed to be everywhere.

After staying there crying for who knew how long Will looked at the clock and noticed she was actually up early despite how late she went to bed. She wanted to get her mind off of everything, she needed to and going back to sleep wasn't going to help any. Looking up she noticed her book bag on her desk with her books still stuffed in it. She didn't get a chance to do her homework the previous night but maybe school would be a good idea to help. At least she could see her friends who would help cheer her up and then there were the boring lectures that the teachers had such a knack for.

Climbing from her bed she ignored the stiffness she felt and gathered some clothes and left the room to head to the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready for school. As she walked out into the hall though she bumped into her mother who didn't look like she had slept at all.

"Good morning, Will." Susan said, kissing Will on the head, "How are you feeling?"

"Crappy." Will mumbled, hugging Susan then backing up a little. "You know after I get ready for school, you should go take a bath yourself."

"Real funny young lady…school?" Susan said, shaking her head, "Honey, I already called off work today and I'm going to call you off to. You need to rest dear, maybe we can go talk to that counselor later."

"Mom, I don't want to go to a counselor." Will said, frowning at the thought. "And don't call me off, I want too see my friends mom. I want things to just go on like before and just forget last night ever happened."

"Will." Susan said with a sad sigh.

"Please, mom." Will said.

"Okay, but we talk about this counselor thing later. I really think you should go." Susan said.

"Fine, we can talk later but I'm still not going." Will said as she ducked past Susan and into the bathroom. She refused to see a counselor or even admit to what happened last night. She was intent on being strong, she was the Keeper of the Heart after all and had to be strong for everyone else.

It took a little longer than usual for Will to get ready since she had to be careful of the worst areas. They stung if bothered too much so she was very careful around them. She dressed in loose jeans, looser than usual, a black t-shirt that had red lettering saying 'Bite Me' which Irma had given her and a black hooded sweatshirt over that which was also loose like the jeans. She didn't worry about trying to hide her eye since she decided to just put it off as an accident. The only thing that really worried her was Irma, Will was praying that her father didn't tell her what happened to Will and have it spread to everyone at school before it even started.

Dismissing that thought quickly since Will was sure that Tom wouldn't do something like that. And Will sure wasn't about to tell anyone, not even the other guardians. They were like sisters but Will just couldn't tell them what happened. She wasn't if it was because she actually felt kind of ashamed for it on so many levels or some other reason. She was the Keeper which granted her powers that should have prevented it from happening yet a normal person was able to do that. She was mad at herself for letting it happen and not going for the heart sooner. A part of her was blaming herself for letting it happen in the first place and not doing something different.

Shaking her head and fighting back the tears, Will pushed all of that to the back of her head and left the bathroom and grabbed her bag and headed for the kitchen where Susan was looking in the refrigerator, probably for something to make for breakfast.

"Don't worry about it, mom, I'll get something at school." Will said, walking up to Susan and kissing her cheek.

"Are you sure, honey?" Susan asked, a worried look crossing her face as she looked at Will.

"I'm sure." Will said as she slipped her pack on.

"Here." Susan said as she went over to her purse on the counter and pulled out a twenty, ten and a few ones. "Take this and if you feel like coming home or if something happens, call me, ok?"

"I will, mom." Will said.

"Can I give you a ride?" Susan asked.

"I'd rather walk, mom." Will said as she realized that she left her bike there.

"Ted called, honey." Susan said, "He picked up your bike for you. It's at the pet shop if you want to pick it up later."

"Thanks." Will said as she walked out the door, stuffing the money in her jeans pocket. It didn't take long to reach the school but Will didn't see any of the other girls or Caleb on the way. She really didn't want to see Caleb at the moment but she would have liked to seen at least one of her friends on the way. At least then she wouldn't be scared like she was but it was manageable. It was the dark that was bothering her the most for some reason but she refused to admit it.

Entering the school grounds Will scanned the area looking for any sign of the girls and found none which actually kind of bothered her. Maybe Tom really did tell Irma what happened and now they were avoiding her.

Shaking her head as she pushed those negative thoughts to the back of her head, refusing to believe them she decided to head to the cafeteria and get some breakfast. Walking through the large entrance doors Will tried not to look at anyone directly as she noticed people staring at her eye. Voices from the teacher's lounge stopped her as she heard Mr. Collins talking with a few of the other teachers.

"You really don't look very well, Dean." Mrs. Knickerbocker said, sounding a little worried.

"It's nothing." Mr. Collins, his voice sounding a little strained. "I just had some bad dreams which kept me up. I kept dreaming I got into a fight with someone but I can't remember."

"Dude," the substitute art teacher said, the one that Hay Lin had told Will earlier that week was a genius. "Looks more like you have a nasty hangover."

"Dean!" Mrs. Knickerbocker scolded, "You are supposed to be a role model for the students. I don't want to see you coming in here like this again."

"I'm sorry." Mr. Collins said, "Susan and I broke up and I guess I got wasted last night. I know I shouldn't have and I'm sorry."

"It's all right, we all make mistakes." Mrs. Knickerbocker sighed, "Should I take over your class today?"

"No, I'm fine." Mr. Collins said.

Will walked away from the doorway shaking her head, growing angry. She didn't want to hear that jerk's voice, she couldn't stand him. He was on the top of her shit list along with Matt, Cedric and a whole bunch of other people she couldn't stand. True, some of them she used to like but after getting to know them better and after everything that happened Will wouldn't care if they all just fell off the face of the earth and never seen again.

Trying to calm down Will walked into the cafeteria and was relieved that there wasn't much of a line. She quickly made it through and got some scrambled eggs, French toast and orange juice. After paying for it she made her way out onto the floor looking for a seat when she spotted Cornelia and Taranee sitting at a table with Irma and Hay Lin sitting on the opposite side, the four of them talking about something. Nervously Will made her way up behind Cornelia and Taranee and noticed Irma and Hay Lin staring at her eye.

"I'm so sick of Will." Cornelia growled while Irma was making shut up motions to the blonde. "She is so worthless as…"

"Fine, if I'm so worthless then you don't mind if I quit!" Will snapped as she dumped the entire contents of her tray over Cornelia's head soaking her in juice and covering her with egg and toast.

"ARRRGGGHHHHHH!" Cornelia shrieked, drawing everyone's attention in the cafeteria who all started laughing at the infuriated girl.

"Will!" Taranee gasped, shock in her voice.

"Please wait." Hay Lin said.

"Shut up." Will growled, looking away from them. Her shoulders were shaking but she wasn't sure if it was from the anger or the tears that was fighting to escape their prison. "So I'm worthless? Well fine, who the hell needs friends like you anyways?"

"Please Will, wait…" Taranee started.

"YOU BITCH!" Cornelia screamed as she shot up and towered over Will. Will almost thought she saw fire surrounding the girl.

"So I'm worthless and a bitch? Well at least I don't turn against my friends when something happens that they didn't have a choice in!" Will said, turning to leave. "I'd be better off being friends with Cedric than any of you!"

With that Will stormed off while ignoring the screams from Cornelia and the pleas from the others trying to calm the blonde down and trying to stop Will. Will was almost out of the cafeteria when she was stopped by Uriah and his goons. She was sure they probably knew now too which made her want to cry even more but she refused to let any of them see her cry.

"That was so awesome, Wilma." Uriah laughed which surprised Will at first until she realized what he called her.

"Don't call me that!" Will snapped.

"And why not, Wilma?" Uriah sneered, "Wilma, Wilma, Wilma."

"SHUT UP!" Will cried out punching Uriah hard and knocking him too his ass. She stood over him, fists clinched at her sides as she shook even more. "Don't call me that!"

"Okay, okay." Uriah said, backing away from Will. "Crazy bitch."

Will wanted to kick him so much but she saw herself on the ground with that bastard's foot coming at her and stopped. Clenching her eyes shut she ran from the cafeteria and down the hall not really caring where she was going, only wanting to get away. She didn't stop until she slammed into someone and almost knocking them over.

"Watch where the hell you're going!" Matt snapped, pushing Will back.

"Matt?" Will asked, surprised. Of all the people she had to run into. What the hell was going on, was the fates playing games with her?

"You!" Matt snarled, "Thanks a lot you stupid, klutzy, piece of trash! It's your fault grandpa is sick! How the hell do you fall off your bike and hurt yourself enough that gramps had to take you to the hospital and strain himself like that? God, and you wonder why I broke up with you!"

"H-He's sick?" Will asked, tears starting to run freely as she wasn't able to hold them in anymore.

"Stay the hell away from my grandfather!" Matt snarled.

Will just spun around and ran out of the school not caring where she was going. She didn't want to go home but she also didn't want to go the pet shop either despite how much she wanted to. She wanted so much to check on Mr. Olsen but instead she decided on the shell cave where her friends introduced her too…her now ex-friends. She needed to just be alone for awhile to think about things and though she was a little scared she knew that she would be safe since that bastard would be occupied for awhile.

Dropping her pack near the wall after she finally arrived at her destination she leaned with her back against the wall and slowly slid down and pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. How could things be going so wrong now? It wasn't fair, none of it was. She was losing everything that she had little by little though some of it shouldn't have been a surprise. After all, one parent had already abandoned her and the friends she thought she had in Fadden Hills also turned out to be backstabbers like the so called friends she had here. And last night, the one thing she had that was hers alone to give to the person she wanted to spend her life with was stolen from her by someone that though she disliked it was someone she felt she could have at least trusted for the most part.

Her whole life was turning upside down and no matter where she looked she couldn't find any answers. Maybe Matt and Cornelia was right, maybe she was worthless. It would explain everything, why every time she thought someone cared about her ended up turning against her. The only person to ever show her love and kindness unconditionally, besides her mother who Will had doubts about lately, was Mr. Olsen who was now sick because of her.

Will pulled her bag close, not bothering with the tears falling from her eyes, and pulled out a small pocket knife she kept on her keychain with the apartment keys and the pet shop keys Mr. Olsen had given her incase of emergencies. The knife was more of an ornament on the keychain but it really did have a real blade on it which she opened and looked at detachedly. It would be so simple to just stop all of this pain a few simple slashes and it would be over.

Slowly she pulled her sleeve up and ran the blade softly across her wrist, feeling the cold metal against her bare flesh and shivered. Just a little bit of force and she could cut herself and let the blood flow from her and watch as her life washes away. Will watched as a small line of red started to swell up where the blade just passed and was shocked that she was actually bleeding. She didn't even push down on the blade that hard. She watched it for a few moments before she shook her head and closed the knife and shoved it back down into her bag and pulled out a couple tissues which were all she had to clean off the blood. She was so tempted to end it all right then but she couldn't go through with it. A part of her mind kept whispering that she could always do it later after things got worse but she was trying her best to ignore it.

Instead Will pulled her knees back to her chest and rested her chin on them, letting the tears come freely this time. She stayed like that until she closed her eyes and found herself struggling to push a weight off of her.

"Stop fighting me." Slurred an angry and familiar voice.

"STOP IT!" Screamed Will, bolting upright to find herself back in the cave. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She was glad it was just another nightmare but wished that she could get rid of them. Living through that once was enough, why did she have to keep living through it while she was asleep.

Yawning, Will looked down at her watch and gasped. It was two hours after school let out and her mother was going to be worried sick if she didn't get home. Grabbing her bag she ran from the cave as fast as she could until finally reaching her apartment building though she decided if she wasn't grounded for life that she wanted to go see about Mr. Olsen to make sure he was okay.

Opening her apartment door though Will froze when she noticed the two people inside, her mother and…Mr. Collins. How could she? Her mother promised Will and here they were now!

"You promised me!" Will cried out, throwing her pack to the ground.

"Will, I can explain." Susan said, walking slowly toward Will with an outstretched hand.

"You know what? You two were made for each other so you can burn in hell together for all I care!" Will cried as she turned and ran from the apartment. She didn't slow down until she was several blocks away from the apartment but she wasn't sure what was worse at the moment. Her mother having Mr. Collins there or being too occupied with him to even come after Will.

Rubbing her eyes and deciding to not give a damn Will walked slowly as she tried to get her emotions under control. She wanted to go somewhere, anywhere that didn't have any of the people who betrayed and hurt her.

"I need to go check on Mr. Olsen." Will said to herself as she turned around to go toward the pet shop now that she had a destination. When she finally got there she noticed that the open sign was up which meant he was probably here but if he was sick then he really shouldn't be. Entering the store she noticed that Mr. Olsen was there, by himself, sitting behind the counter.

"Will, how are you feeling sweety?" Mr. Olsen asked, smiling at Will though he didn't get up.

"I'm okay, but how about you. Matt said…" Will said but was interrupted by Mr. Olsen before she could continue.

"He blows things out of proportion, Will. I did strain myself a little last night." Mr. Olsen sighed, "I didn't want to say anything but its nothing a few days of rest won't cure. I'll be fine, its you I'm worried about."

"I'm fine, thanks to you." Will said, smiling as she kissed him on the cheek. "But as for you, go lay down in the back and I'll take care of the store. I'll be here every night this week to do it too and no buts, Mister."

"Will, you don't need to do this, you need to worry about yourself." Mr. Olsen said.

"You mean a lot to me, Mr. Olsen and I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't do this. I'll also be in every morning before school to feed and clean everybody." Will stated, "And no arguments."

"Okay, but I want to be here. I…I'll stay in the back and rest on the cot but if you need anything, you call me, understood?" Nr. Olsen said.

"Of course." Will said as she ushered him through the curtain to the back rooms. She wanted to be here and take care of the man she seen as a grandfather and the pets here who she saw as friends, perhaps the only friends she had left.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Irma, I'm sorry but this is not something up for debate." Anna scolded, her hands on her hips.

"But that's not fair, that's hours before my curfew." Irma said. "Why can't I stay out with my friends?"

"Your friends won't be allowed out either, Irma." Anna said.

"Irma, please, this is for your own good." Tom said, walking in the room.

"But dad." Irma whined, giving her puppy dog eyes that usually got her father to do anything she wanted.

"Irma, we aren't doing this as a punishment." Anna said, "There was a girl your age attacked last night and we don't want it happening to you."

"A-Attacked?" Irma squeaked, a flash of Will's angry yet hurt eyes going through Irma's mind. The black eye Will had making Irma suspicious. "What happened?"

"Anna…" Tom warned, going into police mode.

"We have too, dear." Anna said and Tom deflated, "Irma, a girl your age was beaten and raped last night. We just want to protect you, we love you."

"Who was attacked?" Irma asked softly.

"Irma, I can't tell you that, you know that." Tom said with a worried expression.

"WHO WAS IT?" Irma cried, dropping to her knees before Anna caught her in an embrace. "It was Will…wasn't it?"

"I'm so sorry, honey." Anna whispered in Irma's ear as she cried, full understanding from Will's odd behavior becoming clear. Irma had never seen Will that upset before, and it made a little more sense as to why Will snapped so much at Cornelia's normal, and annoying, speech about Will letting Phobos get to Elyon.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So how much is this little guy?" A voice asked from behind Will as she gave the last puppy his food and clean water. Will knew the voice very well and didn't want to acknowledge it though. "Will, Dean only stopped by to see if you was okay since you apparently skipped school today. I'm not seeing him and I even asked him not to come back at all."

Will wasn't sure what to do or believe as she stood straight, facing away from Susan until arms wrapped around Will and pulled her into an embrace while resting their head on Will's shoulder.

"Please, I'm sorry Will, I love you so much." Susan whispered, sadness in her voice, it sounding like she was about to cry. Will turned around in Susan's arms and buried her face in her blouse, crying.

"I'm sorry, mom." Will cried, "I'm sorry I snapped."

"It's okay, honey." Will whispered, "Just please don't run away from me like that again. I've been so worried."

"I won't mom." Will whispered, "Love you."

"Love you too honey."

XXXXXXXXXX

Phobos couldn't believe that his own subordinates was questioning him when they failed in almost every task assigned lately. The only thing that saved Cedric was that he actually managed to get Elyon and bring her back. It was strange though, ever since Elyon showed up Phobos had felt so much different than before but it was hard to explain and he refused to try to those fools that surrounded him.

Now wasn't the time to think of that, in fact he planned on recovering the Seal of Phobos from the guardians so he could complete the spell which would transfer Elyon's powers to him during the coronation ceremony. The only problem was that he didn't know what the guardians human forms looked like. From what he understood the Heart of Candracar changed their appearances and even applied a guise on them to help hide their identities so that their families would not be discovered and used against them.

That was going to change tomorrow when Phobos himself would infiltrate Heatherfield and get to know some of the people their that was the same age as Elyon. The guardians were the same age he at least knew but until he learned of their identities that wouldn't help much though it did cut down the search parameters by a good chunk.

"Beware, guardians, soon I will come for you and kill you all if need be to get what I need." Phobos laughed loudly.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN:

SENSHI: Everything is starting to fall into place as Phobos's first trip to Earth will happen in the next chapter.

CH33T4H: I can't wait to see that.

SENSHI: You all ready know whats going to happen anyways.

CH33T4H: Well, so what, I can't wait to finish the next chapter.

SENSHI: Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing everyone. Brit is staying over this weekend and she wants to get as much work done on this as possible so we might get another chapter out by tomorrow night. I will be updating both The Road to Freedom and The New Guardian on Monday or Tuesday night at the latest.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne


	4. Chapter 4

Irma was so angry with herself as she walked slowly to Olsen's Pet Shop in hopes of catching Will before school since that was where Susan said she was going. After what happened the previous day with Will dumping all that food on Cornelia Irma was furious at Will while feeling hurt and a little betrayed at the same time. It wasn't that Will dumped the stuff on Cornelia, in a way the blonde deserved it and Irma actually found it a little funny. Irma knew that deep down Cornelia really cared for Will as all of them did bit the blonde kept blaming her for Elyon being taken. Cornelia kept claiming that Will was a worthless leader when she went into one of her lecture slash tantrums.

"_Who the hell needs friends like you anyways?"_

The phrase kept repeating itself through Irma's head over and over the entire morning after that incident and it made her go back and forth from being hurt to being angry. Irma, or any of the other girls except Cornelia, never said anything bad about Will. And yet, in a way, Will attacked them just as much as she attacked Cornelia by saying it. Irma knew Hay Lin and Taranee both took it very hard after it happened, neither really wanting to talk much for the rest of the day.

Then it happened, Irma learned what happened to Will and all of the bad things Irma was thinking about Will because of what happened were completely shattered. One of her best friends was hurt very badly while Irma was busy being mad at said friend. It devastated her, making her feel that she was the one who hurt and betrayed Will for ever being mad the way she was.

She never did go back out the previous night, instead she stayed in her bed trying to decide what to do. She tried calling Will but she didn't answer and when she called the home phone all she got was voicemail. She never called the others to tell them what happened, instead she wanted to talk to Will first which was why she was going to the Pet Shop. She had finally gotten through on the home phone and Susan had said that Will was heading to the pet shop then school.

She was just in time as she saw Mr. Olsen unlocking the doors and Will standing there with him. Hurrying faster Irma ran up to the two of the, gasping a little as she tried to catch her breath after reaching them.

"Will, please, we need to talk." Irma gasped.

"There is nothing to talk about." Will said angrily.

"Its okay, Will, you can talk to your friend." Mr. Olsen said as he pushed the door open, "I'll be inside so take your time."

After Mr. Olsen went inside Irma was about to try and say something to Will when the red haired girl spun around to glare at her. The anger and intensity of Will's glare caused anything that Irma was going to say on her lips though.

"What are you doing here?" Will asked angrily. If looks could kill, Irma was sure that she would have died a thousand times over by the looks Will was giving her.

"Will…I, I want to talk to you. I found out last night about what happened to you." Irma said, trying to figure out what to say to convince Will that she cared and really wanted to be there as she was sure the others would want as well. The only problem was that Will's angry glare just jumped up about a thousand notches.

"So you came to make fun of me, huh?" Will snarled, "Well guess what, I don't give a damn if you think I am worthless!"

"Will, I don't think you're worthless, none of us do." Irma cried, reaching out toward Will who smacked Irma's hands away. "Will…Yesterday…that was just Cornelia's stupid rants about Elyon."

"I don't believe you!" Will cried, "I was stupid to think I actually found real friends. None of you are any different than those fakes back in Fadden Hills! I don't need that so stay the hell away from me!"

"Will, please." Irma cried, walking closer to Will who was shaking now.

"Stay the hell away from me, Irma. The only friends I need are inside this building so leave me the hell alone!" Will snarled, "At least they don't talk about me behind my back! Just…Just go, Irma…please just go."

Irma couldn't believe it, she didn't want to, Will meant a lot to herself as well as the others but because of Cornelia's big mouth they all had probably lost her. Will was convinced that they really didn't care about her and Irma couldn't blame her. She sighed in defeat as Will stalked into the store and slammed the door shut behind her. Irma wanted so much to just collapse then and there and cry but she couldn't. She had to get to school and talk to the others, she refused to give up on Will. Maybe the others could help if Cornelia wasn't still swearing eternal vengeance on Will.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will stormed into the pet shop fuming, how could Irma even do something like that? Will was not stupid, she knew what they were talking about yesterday. They were talking about how worthless Will was, and what was hurting her the most was that she was starting to agree with them. It seemed all she ever did was cause problems where ever she went, including Heatherfield. If she never came there then would there be any guardians? Would Elyon be in Phobos's clutches?

If the guardian thing wasn't bad enough as it was, there was also Mr. Olsen now who was sick all because of Will. If she was stronger or faster and had time to call the heart then maybe she could have fought him off. If she did then Mr. Olsen wouldn't have had to take her to the hospital which had strained him more than he should have been. By carrying her around that much he had gotten sick and it was because of her and she still couldn't forgive herself for it. In fact, she doubted that she could.

"Will." Ted said sadly, "Maybe you should give her a chance. She's your friend and she really cares for you."

"Y-You heard that?" Will asked, refusing to cry anymore. Especially in front of Mr. Olsen, he had enough to deal with without her adding to it.

"I'm sorry, Will." Ted sighed, "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop but the two of you was rather loud."

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Mr. Olsen." Will said, rubbing at her eyes. "I've caused you so much trouble the last few days. Maybe…maybe I should just…"

"What Will?" Ted asked sternly.

"Maybe…I should just…end it." Will said, looking everywhere except at Mr. Olsen. "I'm worthless…I…If I was gone then I'd be out of everyone's way."

"Don't you even think like that Will." Ted said, tears falling as he pulled Will into a strong but loving embrace. "You are NOT worthless, Will. So many people love you, so very, very much. Your mom, me and your friends. And I don't mean the animals here, I mean your real friends. Give them a chance, I don't know what happened with Elyon but I know them enough to know that they love you."

"I don't deserve anyone." Will cried, "When my mom finds out…"

"Find out what dear?" Ted asked, kissing the top of her head.

"Who it was…I'm real sure she'll love me then…" Will cried, half laughing bitterly.

"Who was it, Will?" Ted asked.

"I have work to do." Will said as she pulled away from Ted while wiping her eyes. She couldn't stop crying but she needed to get the animals taken care of and get to school. Mr. Olsen was sick because of her so it was her responsibility to take care of the animals until he was feeling a lot better.

"Will, please don't walk away." Ted begged.

"I have work to do." Will said again though her voice sounded dead.

XXXXXXXXXX

Phobos was quickly beginning to hate this world, this Heatherfield. There was barely any magic here but there was something else about all of these people that were making it almost impossible for him to detect any magical auras or signs of its power. If he was back on Metamoor he could draw on the power there and cut through all of this easily and find the seal but he was weakened a great deal being so far away from his source f power. This, unfortunately, meant that he had to search for the guardians the hard way.

Many of these people were actually kind of rude as the walked by him, some of them laughing at his extremely long hair as they passed. He especially wanted to turn them into ash and would if it wasn't so important for him to keep a low profile. He needed to blend in and find the guardians before revealing himself and taking back what was his from those damned guardians.

A red haired girl came out of a building just in front of him and walked right into him causing him to growl in annoyance. Another rude, little pathetic…beautiful goddess. He couldn't take his eyes off of hers as they stood there staring at each other. He seemed to be swallowed up into them the longer he looked into them. Her eyes though was filled with so much sadness though as he realized that she must have been crying.

"I'm so sorry." The girl said, her face red as she looked down at the ground. "I…I wasn't watching where I was going.

Phobos couldn't believe that one of these insects was apologizing to him, especially this beautiful goddess. Beautiful goddess? What was going through his mind? He didn't need any distractions, even one that was causing so many unfamiliar, yet pleasant feelings to flow through him. "Don't worry about it, are you all right?"

Phobos couldn't believe he just asked that, why would he even care if she was okay?

"I'm fine…I…I have to go, I have to get to school." The girl said.

"Can I at least have your name?" Phobos asked with a small smile.

"Will." Will said, her face growing brighter.

"I'm Ph…Phil." Phobos said, gagging at the name. It was one he heard earlier and he hated using it, he much preferred his true name but he couldn't afford using it at the moment.

"It was nice to meet you." Will said, turning to leave, "I really have to run, I'm going to be late."

Phobos watched as she ran down the street as was so entranced by her he didn't sense the older man approaching quietly from behind and putting his hand on Phobos's shoulder causing him to jump a little.

"Remarkable girl, isn't she?" the man asked.

"I guess." Phobos said.

"She truly is but she's been through hell lately. Add to that and I'll make sure you suffer ten times worse than anything you cause her." The man warned. It wasn't a threat but a promise the man was making. Phobos pulled away from the man and turned to face the older man.

"Don't worry about that." Phobos said. He normally would have been very angry at anyone who dared touch or speak to him in that way but he couldn't bring himself to be upset at this man. This man held so much warmth in his eyes, love for the red haired girl and a great amount of protectiveness. "I'm Phil."

"My name is Ted Olsen." Ted said.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Olsen." Phobos said with a genuine smile.

"Likewise…would you like to come in for a drink?" Ted asked.

"Sure, why not?" Phobos said. He could talk to this guy for awhile and maybe learn a little bit about the surrounding area.

XXXXXXXXXX

Irma reached the school in low spirits as she looked for her friends, she decided to not tell them exactly what happened to Will since it wasn't her place to tell them but she had to tell them something. Especially Cornelia, she had to find a way to cool the blonde down before something happened.

"Where were you?" Cornelia asked as Irma reached them.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Irma said sarcastically before continuing, "Cornelia, you need to lay off of Will for awhile."

"What?" Cornelia demanded, almost screaming.

"Look, Will was hurt really bad Cornelia and when she overheard you little tirade she thought you was making fun of her because of it." Irma explained, "She doesn't need the drama or the crap so cut it Corny."

"Don't call me CORNY!" Cornelia growled.

"What happened?" Taranee asked worriedly.

"Is she okay?" Hay Lin asked softly. Irma felt really bad for Taranee and Hay Lin, it seemed they took what happened the morning before the hardest. The angry and betrayed look in Will's eyes at the time had really shook the two up. It hurt Irma but it devastated those two.

"She will be if we let her know that we love her and are here for her, even if she tries to push us away." Irma said.

"After what she did to me?" Cornelia demanded.

"Fine, Cornelia, if you ever get hurt and need help DON'T come crawling to me. I don't want to be seen with someone who would abandon their friends as easily as you have been doing lately." Irma growled.

"She dumped food all over me in front of half of the school!" Cornelia snarled, "Am I just supposed to forget that?"

"And you called Will worthless after what happened to her! God, Cornelia, it sounded like we were all calling her that and making fun of her. She was hurting Cornelia, do you even care?" Irma demanded but didn't even get a response this time.

"What happened?" Taranee asked.

"She was hurt, that is all I'm saying." Irma sighed, maybe she shouldn't have brought this up. She didn't know what else to do and if Cornelia was left unchecked then the blonde could make things infinitely worse.

"Will…will she be okay?" Cornelia asked, her voice sad and almost too soft to hear but Irma did hear it. She was glad that Cornelia was coming to her senses, even if only a little bit and was showing worry for one of their friends who really needed them.

"All we can do is be there for her, Cornelia. Someone…she was hurt really badly." Irma sighed.

"She was raped, wasn't she?" Taranee asked. "She's who my parents were talking to your dad about."

"She couldn't have been, Taranee, she's the keeper of the heart." Cornelia said.

"It still didn't stop it from happening." Irma said, rubbing at her eyes.

"No…no, no, no…" Hay Lin cried, shaking her head in disbelief.

"She'll be okay, Hay Lin." Irma said gathering the smaller girl into her arms, "She is a strong girl and I have faith in her and so should the rest of you. We just need to let her know that we are here for her."

"We won't let her go through this alone." Cornelia said.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will cursed her luck as she made her way to her class, she was very late for it but she was praying to get out of any detentions. Fortuanately Mrs. Knickerbocker hadn't said anything about Will skipping school the day before. She also didn't say anything about what had happened to Will which was making Will hope that the older woman just didn't know anything yet about it.

When she arrived at the door she took a deep breath and went in and gave the note Mrs. Knickerbocker had given her to the teacher who glared at her and told her to take a seat. She quickly made her way to her seat while ignoring the questions about her eye from her fellow students. It was mainly healed now but it still sported some of the darkness around it from where that bastard hit her.

"Will, are you okay?" Hay Lin whispered from beside her. There was a lot of worry in the girl's voice that confused Will. If Hay Lin really hated her then why did she sound so concerned?

"What do you care?" Will sniffed as she folded her arms on her desk and hid her face in them.

"Because you're my friend Will." Hay Lin said, her voice sounding like she was about to cry which was tearing at Will's heart. She couldn't do this to the smaller girl, Hay Lin sounded like she was on the verge of breaking down and here was Will taking out her problems on her. Will believed it was just more proof how pathetic she was.

"I'm sorry, Hay Lin." Will whispered as she rolled her head so she was facing Hay Lin. "I'm okay, really."

"Is there something you girls would like to share with the class?" the teacher asked.

"No, sorry." Hay Lin said sheepishly.

"Talk tonight, I'll call you after work." Will whispered, "I'm leaving at lunch."

"Thanks." Hay Lin whispered back, confusion in her voice. Will refused to go to the same class as that bastard.

XXXXXXXXXX

Phobos, for some odd reason, couldn't help but feel sorry for the old man as he helped him to the back to lay down for awhile. The two of them had talked for a couple hours and Phobos, though grudgingly, had built up some respect for the fool as he watched the man deal with customers coming in and out during that time. It didn't take long for Phobos to actually catch on to the currency being used and how to use the strange machine that Ted kept the money in.

Ted had started clutching at his chest though and fumbled through his pockets until he pulled out an orange bottle of some sort and took something out of it and swallowed it. He sat down on the chair behind the counter and leaned back against it breathing a little heavily.

"Are you okay?" Phobos asked though he was telling himself that he really didn't care. Nothing mattered but getting back his property, the Seal of Phobos and taking his sister's powers insuring his reign over the same people who turned their backs on him all those years ago.

"I just need to rest." Ted gasped.

"Do you have somewhere you could lay down?" Phobos asked.

"In the back." Ted said.

"Then lets go." Phobos said, using what little bit of power he had left to him to implant suggestions in the man's head to get him to listen to Phobos without hurting the old man.

That was what led Phobos to where he was now, helping Ted climb into the cot that was set up. Another simple suggestion sent Ted into a deep sleep before Phobos walked back to the front of the store while gasping himself. Using that little bit of power had drained Phobos severely.

Phobos sat down at the chair behind the counter just as the, what Ted had called a kitten, jumped up on the counter before him. Ted had been surprised when the little creature seemed to fixate on Phobos, following and playing with him. The kitten even ate some food that Phobos had shown the creature which surprised Ted. The man had said the kitten came in a few days ago but had refused to eat or drink anything. The relief and amazement on the old mans face had actually caused Phobos to smile a little though he would deny it if asked about it.


	5. Chapter 5

The Power of Love

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

CH33T4H: I can't believe you posted the wrong file last time.

SENSHI: Well, at least I posted the whole chapter still.

CH33T4H: But you left the disclaimer out. How could you leave Foamy out?

SENSHI: I said I was sorry.

CH33T4H: But Foamy.

FOAMY: I didn't want to be in here anyways. It's not like you are going to convince me or trick me into saying that you two don't own the characters in this story.

CH33T4H: Thanks Foamy, I knew you wouldn't let me down.

FOAMY: What the hell are you talking about?

CH33T4H: Well, you all ready said it.

FOAMY: DAMN IT! This is the last straw, screw you both and screw this story. I quit and there is no way in hell you are getting me back here.

CH33T4H: I'll buy you a coffee and bagel.

FOAMY: You can't bribe me!

CH33T4H: It won't have a sucky after taste and no coffee house propaganda.

FOAMY: Coffee house propaganda no more!

SENSHI: Thank you both but I think its time to move on with the story.

CH33T4H: I guess and I don't own Foamy. Foamy id owned by Jonathan Ian Mathers.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will wasn't really too sure what to think about Hay Lin as she sneaked off the school grounds when lunch started. She wasn't sure what to think about any of the guardians in all honesty. It seemed like the same thing happening yet again here in Heatherfield that had happened in Fadden Hills. The people who claimed to be her friends turned out to be fakes in Fadden Hills and in so many ways the people that she had met here seemed to be doing the same thing. Yet Hay Lin seemed to be genuinely concerned about Will and she had to admit that Irma seemed sincere earlier.

Shaking her head as she tried to clear her head she finally reached the pet shop and went inside and stopped in shock, Mr. Olsen wasn't anywhere to be seen but that boy named Phil was sitting behind the counter taking money from an older woman buying some bird food.

"Please come again." Phil said with a smile as the woman walked out.

"What are you doing here?" Will asked, a little hurt that someone else was here. Was Mr. Olsen getting sick of her now too?

"I was talking to Mr. Olsen earlier when he got sick and went to rest. I stayed to watch the store while he slept." Phil explained as a familiar gray, tiger striped kitten jumped up on the counter next to Phil and rubbed up against him while purring. It was the same kitten who didn't like anyone and refused to eat anything since coming to the shop.

"Is he okay?" Will asked, worried and upset that she wasn't here to help Mr. Olsen when he needed it. She should have been there, she was the reason he was sick after all.

"He's fine, just needed to get some rest." Phil said.

"I…I'll make sure everyone has food and water and is clean." Will said, trying not to cry as she started to move away towards the back to get some food to start with the puppies first.

"It's okay, I already did all that. I just finished a few minutes ago actually." Phil said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh." Will said, refusing to turn around and face Phil as tears slowly started making their way down her cheeks. She was useless, Mr. Olsen didn't need her around, he had Phil to do everything around the store now. Who wouldn't want to replace troublesome trash if they got the chance?

"Are you okay?" Phil asked, getting up from his chair and walked over towards Will who shied away from him.

"Don't touch me!" Will snapped, backing away from Phil. She didn't want him touching her, she didn't want anyone touching her. She was causing nothing but trouble for the few people she felt truly ever cared about her.

"Hey…its okay, I'm not going to hurt you." Phil said as he reached out and pulled Will into his arms holding her tightly. Will pushed at him trying to get away from him but he refused to let go no matter how much she fought against him. She could tell that he was unsure of himself but he still refused to release her. Will finally gave in and started crying in his shoulder, her whole body shaking with sobs as he held stroked her hair softly.

Will wasn't too sure how long she stayed in his arms but after she calmed down he let her go and she backed up a little bit. She flinched, afraid he was going to hit her when he reached up with both hands and cupped her face gently. He carefully wiped her tears away with his thumbs as he stared deeply into her eyes making her a little nervous.

"Who hurt you like this?" Phil asked, his voice calm and kind though she could sense how angry he was at whoever hurt her.

"It doesn't matter." Will sighed, closing her eyes.

"Yes it does." Phil said, "I don't know what he did but for you to be hurting like this…"

"I can't tell you…or anybody." Will said sadly as she pulled away from Phil and walked over to the counter and sat down in the chair behind it and picked up the phone. "I'm starved, have you eaten yet?"

"No." Phil said as he grabbed another chair and pulled it over to the counter and sat down beside Will.

"I'll order a pizza, that way when Mr. Olsen wakes up he can have some too if he's hungry." Will said, trying to keep calm and not dump her problems on anyone else's shoulder. All she really wanted to do at the moment was crawl up in a corner somewhere and cry…or better yet die. She couldn't though, she had to be strong and make sure Mr. Olsen was okay.

"A pizza sounds good." Phil said. Will could tell that he was confused but she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just the way she was acting. Will dialed the number for the little pizza place that was close by that usually delivered to the pet shop for Will. She ordered a large pepperoni pizza and three twenty once bottles of Pepsi which they said would be around twenty minutes.

Will went back to check on Mr. Olsen while they waited for the pizza and was glad to see that he was sleeping soundly even after all of the noise she must have made earlier. She bent down over him and kissed his cheek and fixed his blanket which he had kicked off the bed mostly before rejoining Phil back out front.

Phil was a total puzzle to Will though, she didn't know who he was really was and wasn't too sure if Mr. Olsen knew him very well but here Phil was watching the store which he admitted he was doing for free until Mr. Olsen woke up later. Will was shocked though when he said he wouldn't mind coming by more often to help out as long as she was there some of the times. She wasn't sure what to feel about that but she was sure he wouldn't be feeling the same way if he knew the truth about what happened. Should she tell him what happened to her before he became her friend so he could leave now without hurting her too much or should she just hide it and hope that he might stick around for a bit and hopefully be a friend for a bit anyways?

"Phil…I want to talk to you about something. I don't want to give you the wrong ideas or anything because I don't want a relationship right now…or ever." Will sighed but the pizza delivery guy interrupted anything else she was going to say. She paid for the pizza and put it on the counter between Phil and herself.

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, watching Will sadly.

"Here, eat." Will said as she opened the box, trying to avoid what she was going to say by taking a slice of the pizza and tasting it. She almost laughed at the quizzical look on Phil's face as he looked at the pizza intently and back at Will before carefully taking a slice and tasting. Will smiled at the big smile that cam across his face.

"This is great." Phil said as he tore off a small piece of it and offered it to the kitten that seemed to have adopted Phil as it's own. Will smiled as the little kitten stated eating it, starting with the pepperoni first.

"It is, it's the best pizza you can get around here." Will said.

"So what were you going to say?" Phil asked again after finishing the slice of pizza he had.

"Phil…I don't know if I want to tell you." Will sighed sadly, looking at the pizza and avoiding looking at Phil.

"You can tell me anything, we're…friends now, aren't we?" Phil asked, hesitating on the word friends but sounding surprised and happy about it.

"I doubt you will want to be my friend after you find out what happened to me." Will sighed, "I…I was raped."

"Raped?" Phil asked, confused.

"Yeah…guess you don't want anything to do with someone as worthless as I am. I mean I had the means to fight him off but…I…I couldn't." Will said, trying to hold back the tears as she thought about what that bastard did to her.

"I don't know what raped is but I don't see how it made you worthless." Phil said, Will looked up at him in anger while feeling hurt at the same time. She expected him to mock her but to have him actually doing it hurt worse than she thought it would. Looking into his face though she could tell that he was serious, how could he not know what being raped is?

"I…some guy, he…he forced himself on me. He beat me up and tore my clothes off me and…he did things to me…" Will said, tears starting to fall again. It was starting to seem like she couldn't go very long without crying.

"Who did this to you?" Phil asked angrily, "I'll kill who ever hurt you so badly."

"What?" Will asked in shock as Phil pulled her into his arms again. She hated that, it scared her while at the same time comforted her.

"I said I'll kill whoever hurt you so badly." Phil said.

"You can't…I don't want to see you getting in trouble over me." Will sniffed, he was actually starting to scare her more but for some reason it really touched her by how strongly he seemed to want to do this. "I'm not worth it…"

"You are not worthless, Will and don't you dare think that you are." Phil growled angrily. Will could tell that it wasn't her that he was upset with though. "Sometimes things happen that you can't control but it doesn't make you any less of a person to those who love you."

Will wasn't sure what happened or how long she was there but she closed her eyes and opened them again when the chimes on the door rung as someone walked in. She pushed away from Phil and noticed that it was much later in the afternoon. She realized she must have fell asleep in Phil's arms and was surprised that he actually held her the whole time. What also surprised her was the lack of nightmares which have been haunting her.

"What do you think you're doing young lady?" Mr. Collins demanded, crossing his arms and glaring at Will. "This is two days in a row you skipped school."

Will started shaking as she looked up in fright at Mr. Collins who looked at her angrily, not able to respond. Tears started falling from her eyes as she drew in on herself, hugging herself tightly as she shook her head no.

"Look buddy, I think you should leave." Phil said getting up and standing between Mr. Collins and Will.

"I'm only worried about Will." Mr. Collins sighed. "It's not like her to skip school like this. She should be working on her studies not messing around with some punk at this dump."

Will wasn't sure what happened next but Mr. Collins went flying across the room and slammed hard against the wall. Phil must have hit him which made Will smile a little as it broke her out of her trance.

"Get out of here now or you won't be leaving at all." Phil snarled, clenching his fists at his side. Will almost laughed at seeing Mr. Collins scramble up and hurry out of the shop like the dogs of hell were after him. Phil turned to Will and came over in front of her and kneeled, taking her hand. "Are you okay, Will?"

"Y-Yeah, thank you Phil." Will said, smiling weakly. She couldn't believe how she froze up like she did, how scared she was. She was glad that Phil was there, she didn't want to deal with Mr. Collins at the moment, or ever again really. She didn't like him much before but now she just plain hated him.

"Anything for the lady." Phil said with a soft smile, pulling Will's hand to him and kissing the back of it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Phobos walked slowly down the path toward the castle while being flanked on both sides by guards. The day was a loss as far as finding out anything about the guardians but for some reason he just couldn't see it as a total loss. He had met that strange girl that made him feel things that he hadn't felt in a long time. He was very upset when he found out what had happened to her and wanted to protect her so very much which confused him greatly. Why should he care about her at all really?

Her eyes though…when that man walked in they filled with such fear and hurt that it shattered his heart. He saw that look many times in the eyes of the people of Metamoor. The people he ruled over when they looked at him, they had the same eyes Will had when she looked at that man. Would she look at him with those same eyes if she found out what and who he really was? He knew he shouldn't care but for some reason he didn't think he could handle it if she looked at him like that.

"Worthless brat!" a male voice snarled before a loud smack was heard. Looking up Phobos saw a large drunken man standing over a five, maybe six year old girl with red hair the same shade as Will's. For a moment he actually saw Will's face instead of the girl's.

"I'm s-sorry." The girl cried, crawling away from the man who moved to kick her. Phobos found himself stopping it before it happened, grabbing the man by the neck and lifting him into the air.

"M-My Lord." The man gasped, staring wide eyed at Phobos.

"Why do you strike this child?" Phobos demanded coldly.

"The little brat is my d-daughter, my Lord. She's a clumsy brat who broke some of my best pottery." The man said, gasping for air after Phobos dropped him.

"Throw him into the dungeons." Phobos growled as guards surrounded the man.

"What of the girl, my Lord?" one of the guards asked.

Phobos ignored him though and walked over to kneel before the girl and helped her up. He smiled at her a little and dusted her off, noticing how worn her clothes were and how malnourished she was. "Are you okay?"

The girl nodded shyly, a little fear seeping into her eyes as Phobos brushed her hair back. "He won't hurt you again, I promise."

"He will…" the girl whimpered, "He always does."

Phobos stood up and glared at the crowd around him, his voice thundering loudly. "From this day on, there will be strict and harsh penalties for anyone harming a child. Is that understood?"

"Yes my Lord." Many voices murmured in shock. Phobos reached down and took the little girl's hand and smiled down at her.

"Come on, lets get to the castle and I'll have the healers look at you and have the cooks make you something to eat." Phobos said.

"But my Lord." One of the guards said.

"I am adopting this girl and I don't want to see anyone hurting her. In fact she is to get the same respect and care that I do." Phobos told the guard who nodded dumbly in shock.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN:

SENSHI: Hope everyone is enjoying this story so far. Please review, any commnts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne


	6. Chapter 6

The Power of Love (Any suggestions for a better title?)

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

CH33T4H: Hey all, just to let you know that we should have another chapter done by Sunday night hopefully. We are going to work on it most of today and tomorrow.

SENSHI: Since when do any of our plans seem to go well?

CH33T4H: Hey, stop being so damned negative girl, we will have it done.

FOAMY: Yeah right, tell me another one.

CH33T4H: Shut it squirrel or it's the vet for you.

FOAMY: You wouldn't dare.

CH33T4H: Try me.

FOAMY: (Laughing nervously) As if you all didn't know, these two beautiful, talented girls do not own W.i.t.c.h. or myself so any of you that think they do go have your damned head examined.

SENSHI: I think you should pick a new disclaimer mascot.

CH33T4H: (Smiling while staring in a mirror) What are you talking about, how could we get rid of someone who just tells the truth.

SENSHI: He's kind of rude though…

CH33T4H: So what, everyone is one time or another.

SENSHI: Not going to argue over this, on with the story…

Elyon smiled as she watched the little red haired girl run around the garden playing with the murmurers Phobos assigned to protect her. Phobos had told Elyon what happened when she walked in to find the little girl, Kari, at breakfast. In truth the whole thing surprised Elyon since she was beginning to actually doubt her brother lately. She had heard so many negative rumors around the city when she sneaked out to explore in disguise and they all had come to make her worried.

"Elyon, dear sister I'm afraid that I have more business to attend to today. Can you help keep an eye out on little Kari?" Phobos asked, the usual fake smile actually holding a bit of warmth in it for once.

"Of course I will." Elyon said smiling back but noticing her brother was fighting with words to say something.

"There…is one more thing I wanted to ask you to do if you don't mind." Phobos said nervously.

"If it is something I can help with I would love to." Elyon said sincerely though confused a little. She wasn't used to seeing Phobos with so little confidence.

"I wrote up some papers to make some changes to some old laws and to make some new ones. Cedric will show you where they are and where the seals are. I was hoping…well could you maybe…since the people know that you are here they may respect them more if you also sign them and take them to post them in the city today and maybe buy Kari some clothes and toys while out." Phobos said his nervousness growing by the moment.

"Of course I will, brother." Elyon said with a smile though she promised herself to take a careful look at these laws before doing anything with them.

"Thank you, dear sister." Phobos said smiling truthfully, "Cedric will escort you when you go."

Elyon wanted to refuse that but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her brother seemed so happy this morning she just couldn't ruin it for him.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe you!" Susan screamed, glaring hatefully at Will. "How can you betray me like that? HOW! Get out of my house you little whore!"

"But mom…" Will sobbed, shaking her head in disbelief. This couldn't be happening, it wasn't her fault that it happened.

"Don't call me that, I have no daughter." Susan screamed, "All I see is trash."

"MOM!" Will cried, blinking away the tears as she looked around. She wasn't in the living room anymore and it was dark except for the night light giving off its soft glow.

"Will." Susan cried as she burst into the room and glomped Will tightly where she was sitting up in the bed, "What happened, are you okay?"

"It was a dream…" Will whispered in shock, crying as she looked up into her mother's eyes. There was no hint of anger or hatred, only worry and love. If she did find out though would Susan really still be this worried and loving or would she end up acting like she did in Will's dream? She wasn't sure but she was too scared too find out.

"What happened in it?" Susan asked softly, wiping the tears from Will's face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Will said softly while pulling farther away from Susan.

"Honey, it might help if you talk about it. If not me then how about that counselor." Susan said, reaching out toward Will before letting her arm drop in defeat as Will moved even farther away to avoid Susan's touch.

"I will not go to a damned counselor." Will said flatly, "I don't want to talk about it…I just…I just want to forget it ever happened."

"Will, I love you so much and I want to support you but…I really think you should talk about it." Susan said, "Maybe turn him in. It might help you sleep."

"I doubt that." Will sighed. Ever since it happened she couldn't sleep for very long without one type of nightmare or another. The only time she slept for any amount of time without nightmares was with Phil the day before at the pet shop.

"Will…I don't know what to do or who to help you if you won't let me." Susan said sadly while rubbing her eyes.

"I'll be okay mom, I promise. I…I just need to work this out on my own." Will said kissing her mom on the cheek before climbing out of the bed to get ready for breakfast and to get to the pet shop before school. Looking at her clock she noticed it was still a little early but at least that would let her get a jump start on the day.

XXXXXXXXXX

Caleb sat on the roof of the Silver Dragon looking out over the city thinking about everything that had been going on lately. There was something happening between the guardians and he hated how it was tearing them all up inside though in different ways.

Cornelia, though outraged at over what happened and refused to let on very much to anyone except for Caleb how worried she was, she was very worried. Caleb remembered how Cornelia had found him alone the day Will had humiliated her in front of the school by dumping breakfast over her. The first thing she did was rave and rant about how Will did it, how Cornelia was so humiliated until the blonde collapsed into his arms crying saying that there had to be something wrong with Will. Cornelia swore that Will would have never have done something like that unless something was terribly wrong but when Cornelia tried to call no one would answer at the Vandom residence.

Then there was Hay Lin who looked so devastated that night when she came home and after Will had failed to call last night Hay Lin couldn't stop crying and not even Yan Lin could comfort her. Caleb knew Yan Lin tried to call Will or Susan as well but failed to receive any responses as well. Hay Lin hasn't even touched her markers or paint for two days which really surprised Caleb as she was always painting or designing something in her spare time.

Irma, Caleb had never seen her so serious before. The day Will had abandoned them in the cafeteria Irma had been so angry at the red head but the next day she seemed to be so morose. She seemed to mope around a lot as if in deep thought. She didn't even try to smash Martin's camera when he was taking her picture a lot. She didn't even know he was around most of the time.

Then there was Taranee who acted like the world was coming to an end and hardly spoke up at all. True, Taranee was the shy type a lot of the time and kept quiet a lot but now she hardly spoke at all, even when someone talked to her. She didn't even seem interested in her photography lately which bothered Caleb for some reason.

All of this though all seemed to be centered around Will though but no one would tell him much of what was going on. No one would tell him anything about why Will was acting this way or what happened but it was driving him insane. Will had responsibilities not only as the Keeper of the Heart but as the guardians' leader and supposed friends. To Caleb it seemed she wasn't being much of either lately and he intended to find out why as he climbed down from the roof in search of Will.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will sighed as she left the pet shop, she was hoping that Phil would have been there but he wasn't. A part of her was sure that he would show up later but a bigger part kept telling her that he wouldn't be back at all, no one wanted to be near a piece of trash like her.

Wiping her eyes she tried to not think about it while trying to find some way to raise her spirits. Maybe she would talk to the other guardians and hopefully…Will stopped dead in her tracks as she shook her head. She had forgotten all about calling Hay Lin and now she was probably going to be mad at Will.

"Will." A familiar voice said, a hint of anger in the it. Looking behind her she found a slightly angry Caleb stalking up to her. Stopping before her he crossed his arms and glared at her, a look of confusion crossing his features momentarily before he continued. "What has gotten into you lately? Do you even care how much you are hurting your friends?"

"Friends? That's rich, Caleb." Will laughed bitterly, "Do you see any friends lining up to walk with me to school? I sure the hell don't and do you know why?"

"Will, what's wrong?" Caleb asked softly.

"Because no one gives a damn about me! The only few that does I'm losing or lost because of my screw ups!" Will said, tears starting to fall down her face. After saying it she realized it was probably true. How could Hay Lin forgive her for lying to her about calling? How could Mr. Olsen really forgive her for causing him so much trouble? Cornelia, Will didn't even really expect to ever be forgiven for what she did in a moment of anger. Her mother, how could she ever forgive her for what she did?

"That's not true Will, all of us care about you." Caleb said reaching for Will who slapped his hands away.

"Care about me? Don't make me laugh!" Will cried, "If you cared about me so much where the hell were you when he was raping me!"

"Raping?" Caleb asked in confusion, "Will, what are you talking about?"

"Don't play jokes with me, Caleb." Will cried, "I'm not in the mood!"

"I don't understand, Will." Caleb said softly, a lost look in his eyes. "Will…I don't know what that means. I don't understand a lot of your words yet but I'm really trying and I can see this is hurting you. Will, I truly want to help you if you'll let me."

Will couldn't respond to him as something began tugging at the corner of her mind, someone else seemed just as confused when she brought that up.

"_I don't know what raped is but I don't see how it made you worthless." Phil said._

Why would Phil be confused by it, there was just too much of a coincidence. Did she really care if he came from Metamoor though? He could be another rebel or maybe even a refugee that doesn't want to be in the middle of a war. Or he could even be the child of a refugee like Elyon was the adopted daughter of two Metamoorian refuges. She didn't care about him being from Metamoor if he was, he was really nice and he treated her like she was a princess. She seriously doubted anyone that kind was going to be a spy for Phobos. True, she didn't know him that long but if he came back she would like to be friends with him. He was probably going to be the only one she had left if he wasn't disgusted with her or truly didn't hate her.

"Will…please talk to me." Caleb said, moving a little closer to Will before she jumped back a little away from him in surprise.

"Caleb…one of my teachers…they…" Will said, almost slapping her forehead when she realized what she said. She didn't want anyone jumping to conclusions, especially if it was the right ones. She didn't want to deal with it or him, she just wanted to forget.

"This teacher…raped you…they hurt you?" Caleb said slowly trying to piece it together and figure out what it meant.

"No…that's not what happened Will said, shaking her head in denial. "Look, one of my teachers is expecting me to stop by before school starts so I have to go."

"Will." Caleb said, trying to stop her.

"I said I have to go." Growled Will as she stormed off.

"Will…" Caleb sighed sadly as she walked away.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I have a great idea on how to get my revenge on two birds with one stone." Uriah sneered as he watched Will stalk away from the strange boy Cornelia always hung out with. He had overheard all of it and it made him laugh at the perfect opportunity to cause trouble for not only that bastard for failing him but also on that bitch who hit him and humiliated him in front of the entire school.

"What is it?" Kurt asked.

"It's simple, we start a rumor about Wilma sleeping with Mr. Collins for grades. Everyone knows he's going out with her mom so we just make that look like an excuse for him to see her." Uriah said.

"No." Frank said.

"What?" Uriah snarled.

"It sounded like Will was raped, Uriah. She must be hurting a lot and I can't go along with hurting her more." Frank said. "And we can't lie about something this serious on a teacher…we could get in a lot of trouble."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Uriah snarled while shoving Frank into the wall.

"I said great idea." Frank said nervously.

"That's better." Uriah said while turning to leave. "Come on, let's go."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ellen Knickerbocker was walking back to her office when she heard a couple of girls talking which made her stop since the bell had all ready rang. She started to go over to them to tell them to get to class when she stopped in shock at what they were talking about.

"It's true, I heard it from my sister." The first girl said.

"But Will…I don't know about it. I don't think she would do something like that with her own mother's boyfriend." The second girl said.

"She is, she's sleeping with Mr. Collins to get better grades. She seduced one night when he came to see her mom and she was still at work." The first girl said. "How else do you explain her getting a perfect score on the last two tests when she was usually lucky to get even half of the questions right?"

"Is this true?" Ellen asked in shock. One of her best teachers was sleeping with his student? This was unthinkable at her school, she never had to deal with something like this and it could hurt the reputation of the school severely which she didn't want to do but if it was true then something had to be done.

"Mrs. Knickerbocker." The girls gasped spinning around to see Mrs. Knickerbocker.

"It's all over school this morning." The first girl said.

"Get to class." Ellen said rubbing her face in agitation. As the girls took off, happy to get away without any detentions, Ellen finished her trip to her office to call Will to her office and talk to her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will sat in class bored out of her mind with what the teacher was saying but was glad that Hay Lin was there next to her. The teacher was so engrossed in his lecture and writing stuff up on the board he didn't even notice the two whispering.

"I'm so sorry I forgot to call, Hay Lin." Will whispered, "So much happened last night."

"It's okay Will." Hay Lin whispered back, relief in her voice. "I…I was just so scared and worried."

"I'm okay Hay Lin, honest and I'm not mad at you. I shouldn't have gotten so upset the other day when I heard Cornelia." Will said, "I should have known it wasn't what it sounded like but something happened to me Hay Lin and…well…"

"It's okay Will, I understand. Just please don't push us away. Please don't push me away." Hay Lin whispered back.

"I won't, promise." Will whispered back.

"Will Vandom, please report to Mrs. Knickerboker's office." The loud speaker crackled the voice on it hard to make out. Will noted that they really needed to get that fixed as she gathered up her books while several students looked at her.

Sighing she turned to Hay Lin before getting up, "Come by the pet shop an hour after school. We're closing early tonight so maybe we can talk then."

Will made her way out of the class nervously while ignoring the other students looks. The trip to Mrs. Knickerboker's office didn't take long enough for Will as she slid inside the door and took a seat in front of the principle's desk across from her.

"Will, I hear some very nasty rumors this morning and I want to know the truth." Mrs. Knickerboker said while looking straight in Will's eyes making her look away. "Is it true that you seduced Mr. Collins in exchange for better grades?"

"Wh-What?" Will asked in shock. How could Mrs. Knickerboker ask her that, how dare she ask her that?

"Oh god…it is true, isn't it?" Mrs. Knickerboker asked, "How could you do something like that not only to this school and one of its best teachers but to you mother as well. I never pegged you as being a slut Will but…this…"

"Go to hell!" Will cried as she ran out of the office and pushed past the secretary who was standing outside with Mr. Collins who had a free period now.

"Will!" Mr. Collins called making Will stop and turn around to glare at him angrily.

"Are you happy now you bastard!" Will sobbed at the two startled older people in front of her. "They think…they think it was my fault! You ruined my life!"

"Will…calm down." Mr. Collins said walking closer to Will who backed away shaking in rage and fear.

"Calm down...CALM DOWN! You bastard! You raped me and told her I seduced you!" Will screamed, shuddering as she hugged herself tightly. "I hate you…all of you…"

"Will, I don't know what's going on but I'd never hurt you." Mr. Collins said softly in an attempt to calm Will down.

"Will!" Mrs. Knickerbocker gasped in shock glaring between Mr. Collins and Will. There was definitely something going on but she wasn't too sure it was what it looked like earlier.

"Get away from me you bitch!" Will screamed backing away from her.

"Will." Mr. Anderson, the substitute art teacher said calmly coming out to see what was going on.

"Don't touch me!" Will growled backing away even more before turning around to run away from them.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Mr. Collins, what the hell is going on?" Ellen demanded while she turned to glare at him. She was berating herself for what happened with Will, it sounded like the rumors were far from being true. What was worse was the truth seemed so much worse.

"I don't know." Mr. Collins said shaking his head in confusion but Mr. Anderson looked up as if he just realized something.

"Will came into my class the other day with a black eye and seemed she was hurt more than just from that. She refused to talk about it though but it was on the same day you had a hangover." Mr. Anderson said while cracking his knuckles.

"What does that have to do with it?" Mr. Collins asked in annoyance, "I'd never hurt Will."

"You said you got drunk and was having dreams of fighting someone…Tell me, what else did you do?" Mr. Anderson demanded.

"N-Nothing." Mr. Collins said backing away from the angered substitute.

"Lying bastard!" Mr. Anderson growled as he punched Mr. Collins hard knocking him to the ground. "You're the one who beat Will up…you raped her!"

"Mr. Anderson, that's enough. This is a matter for the police." Mrs. Knickerboker said as she walked over and pulled him back away from Mr. Collins though she wanted to let him beat Mr. Collins, her once long time friend to a pulp. If this was true though then she never wanted to see him again.


	7. Chapter 7

The Power of Love

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

CH33T4H: Whoa, we really did finish another chapter. But Foamy is being so stubborn so I guess I'll give him a break this one time. Sorry peeps but we do not own W.i.t.c.h. in any way, shape or form.

SENSHI: I actually think that was an easier way anyways.

CH33T4H: But Foamy is so fun.

SENSHI: Maybe…well anyways, hope you enjoy the story.

Susan sighed as she watched out of the window of her office lost in thought. She wanted to help Will so much, to just take all of the pain away but she couldn't. She could barely comfort her and it was probably caused a lot by the rift that had grown between them all because she had insisted on seeing Dean and ignoring her daughter's feelings over it.

At first Susan just wanted someone her own age to talk to about her problems but he was so sweet to her. He made her feel things she long thought she'd never feel again for another man after Will's father as he comforted and supported her. They both quickly grew closer to each other but the closer they seemed to get the farther Will and herself seemed to grow apart. It was getting so bad that Susan ended up asking herself who she loved more, her only daughter or some man, though she cared deeply for, could never replace Will. It was easy to decide and Susan decided to break up with him with hopes of repairing the relationship between mother and daughter.

It seemed like it wasn't meant to be though, not long after she broke up with him Susan found out that Will had been attacked and raped. It seemed like Susan was losing Will as the young redhead insisted on pushing Susan away every time she tried to help. Susan had no idea what to do and the only advice anyone would give her was to just be there for Will when she needed. It was killing Susan though, she could see the pain behind Will's eyes no matter how much she tried to hide it from everyone else.

"Hey Susan." Tom said pushing open the door a little and peeking inside. "Can we talk…its really important."

"Sure." Susan said, spinning around to face Tom and waving to the chair before her on the other side of the desk. Tom slowly walked to it and sat down all the while trying to avoid Susan's eyes which made her worry. "Tom…what's wrong?"

"It's Will, Susan…I think we know who raped her…" Tom said rubbing his eyes.

"Who was it?" Susan asked as she leaned over the desk a little, "Did you arrest him?"

"We do have him in custody and are questioning him but…to tell the truth I'm not sure how much we can pin on him without involving Will too much and she said she didn't want to." Tom explained sadly.

"Who was it?" Susan asked again as Tom refused to meet her gaze.

"It was Dean Susan." Tom sighed, "It appears he got drunk and attacked Will and raped her. He says he doesn't remember it but a couple teachers said he came in with a hangover the same morning after Will was attacked. He was complaing about having dreams of fighting someone."

"Are you sure it was Dean?" Susan asked in shock, she couldn't believe he would do something like this. He wasn't the kind of guy who would do something like this. It just couldn't be true.

"Will…she accused him of ruining her life and taking everything away from her. She claimed he raped her before she ran away." Tom said. "Susan…I know how hard this is for you but I believe it was Dean even though I don't want to. I've known him for awhile and he's never done anything like this, he's a good man. I don't know what happened to him but he did do it and right now I want to kill him myself for what he did to Will."

"Where is she?" Susan asked, tears flowing down her face as she realized it was her fault. If she only paid attention to Will's feelings sooner maybe this would never have happened.

"We don't know, I have some officers searching for her, even checking the pet shop, but no one can find her." Tom said. "We won't give up."

"This is all my fault Tom." Susan sobbed as she hung her head over her desk.

"Susan, it's not anyone's fault except Dean's." Tom said getting up and walking around the desk to Susan and pulling her into his arms.

"Yes it is…If I listened to Will and not went out with him none of this would have happened." Susan cried into Tom's arms. "She's the most important thing in the world to me…why did I let this happen to her?"

"Susan, listen to me." Tom said sternly, "None of this is your fault, it was Dean's. Right now Will needs you and you need to pull yourself together but you need to understand this isn't your fault."

"I have to find her." Susan cried while pulling away from Tom.

"I'll drive you and we can check out all the places she hangs out again." Tom said.

"Thanks Tom." Susan sniffed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure that you are going to be okay Mr. Olsen?" Phil asked as he put on his jacket.

"I'm sure, I'll stay here in case Will comes here." Mr. Olsen said, "I just hope she's okay. Thank you for going to look for her."

"It's no problem, she's…a very special girl." Phobos said, surprised that he actually meant it and even more surprised that he was actually very worried about her. When the police came Phobos was ready to attack them until Mr. Olsen explained who they were and let them explain what was going on. Phobos's first instinct was to get a hold of the man who hurt Will and make him suffer beyond anything. He couldn't though as he realized he was more worried about Will's well being and needing to find her. Mr. Olsen wanted to go but Phil insisted he stay behind and rest in case she came by.

He left the shop and searched everywhere he could think of while continually hoping that Will was safe and okay. He searched for what he was sure was more than an hour and was about to head back when he thought he felt a tug from what felt like the Heart of Candracar. He didn't know why but he wasn't really interested in it at the moment, he was too intent on finding Will.

Finding Will he did though as he came to the bridge crossing the stream in the park. She was standing on the railing looking down while she cried. He could hear her all the way from where he was at and was shocked at how quickly his body acted on its own as it rushed over to Will and grabbed her from behind. She screamed ad tried to break free and almost fell off the railing when Phobos tightened his grip and dragged her off the railing and away from it.

"Leave me alone." Will sobbed as she tried to push Phobos away.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." Phobos said. "You mean to much to the old man and…me."

"They know…they know and so will my mom…" Will sobbed as she buried her face in Phobos's chest. "She's going to hate me! She's going to blame me…She'll think I…She'll think I wanted too…"

"No she won't Will, if she loves you she won't." Phobos said.

"Yes she will and she won't want me around, no one will. Who wants anything to do with trash like me…" Will cried.

"You aren't trash and I want…I want to get to know you better. I want to help you and…and I'd like to be friends…I just can't get my mind off of you." Phobos said, "You…you mean so much to me."

"You haven't even known me for a day." Will laughed bitterly.

"Yes I have." Phobos said, "And I'd like to get to know you more."

Phobos held onto Will tightly, gently stroking her back as she cried. He didn't really know what to do or say but he did mean what he said. He only knew her for maybe a day but there was something about her that he wanted to learn more about. Something in her that drew him to her and made him feel things he never believed he could feel. He felt as if he could love her.

"All I want to do is die…" Will sniffed, "I'm so sick of living…"

"Please don't think like that Will, please." Phobos begged, actually feeling his own tears forming. Here was the first person that he truly admitted to himself to caring for and she was in so much pain that he didn't really know what to do.

"Phil…You don't want to get involved with me…I'm filthy…worthless…" Will cried, choking a little. Those words hurt Phobos to hear very much as he pushed her away a little and tilted her chin up to look her directly in the eyes.

"You aren't filthy or worthless and I care…I care so much it hurts. You confuse me so much…I can't even get you out of my mind, Will." Phobos said softly, not taking his eyes from hers. "I…I want to get to know you more…Find out what these feelings are…"

"Please don't play games with me…" Will cried, pleading in her eyes. There was so much pain and loneliness in those deep brown eyes that they threatened to drown him in their sorrow.

"I'm not playing." Phobos said as he leaned closer to Will, tilting his head a little and brushed his lips against hers gently. "You mean a lot to me…I'd never hurt you."

"If you want me so badly just do it and let me die." Will whispered.

"Will…I don't want your body…I want…I don't know what I want but I want you to be okay…I want to be near you and protect you. Please…Please just give me the chance, give me a chance to show you that I truly do care about you. Give me a chance to get to know the kind, beautiful redhead that haunts me every moment of the day. Please." Phobos said softly, kissing Will's forehead. "Please."

"I'm scared…" Will whispered.

"It's okay to be scared, Will. Just don't let that fear destroy you, you mean so much to me…to Mr. Olsen and…I believe your mom too. I'd give anything to have had a mother like the one Mr. Olsen and you told me about." Phobos said, "Please give them a chance too. Come back to the pet shop with me, okay?"

"I'm sorry." Will whispered, "I'll come with you."

"Thank you." Phobos said, gently hugging Will again before taking her hand as they started their trip back to the pet shop again

XXXXXXXXXX

Will walked slowly staying close to Phil while holding his hand tightly as if it was a life preserver. She was so scared of what was going to happen next, everyone now knew what happened and who it was that attacked her. Was anyone even going to believe that it wasn't her fault. Or more importantly, was her mother going to believe her or was she also going to think that Will was a…slut?

As they got closer to the pet shop Will was almost knocked to the ground as a weight slammed into her from behind scaring her. A few moments later she realized that Phil was looking on in confusion but he looked ready to jump to protect her if whatever was holding her tried to harm her.

"Will!" a familiar voice cried, "I heard about what happened, I'm so sorry!"

"H-Hay Lin?" Will asked as she turned around to gather the smaller girl in her arms.

"I'm sorry we wasn't there for you…I'm so sorry that I wasn't." Hay Lin cried as she pulled away to look up at Will. "Are you okay? You don't have to worry about him…Mr. Anderson hit him hard and the police arrested him and are holding him. He can't hurt you again."

"Slow down Hay Lin." Will said, pasting a fake smile on her face for her friend. It hurt Will to see Hay Lin this hurt and upset but a part of her felt a little good about it. This was completely genuine like Phil was minutes ago and Will could tell the other girl deeply cared about Will. "It's okay."

"Everyone is really worried about you." Hay Lin said.

"Thanks." Will said though she wasn't too sure just how worried the others really were. A part of her couldn't help feeling that they couldn't care less.

"Will!" a new yet familiar voice called out across the street. Looking up Will saw her mother climbing out of a police cruiser and hurrying across the road. Will couldn't help shaking a little as she worried what her mother was going to say or do.

XXXXXXXXXX

"We can't go and we shouldn't ask Will…she has too much to deal with right now." Irma said as she sat in Caleb's room at the Silver Dragon, surrounded by Cornelia, Taranee, Blunk and Caleb. Blunk had brought back news from one of the rebels that Phobos had kidnapped a little girl and Caleb wanted to sneak into the castle with the guardians.

"Will didn't look very injured this morning…she said something about being raped by a teacher then she said that it was something for school or something. She said that someone…hurt her though." Caleb said, confusion written on his face which Irma understood which was saving him from getting pounded at the moment.

"Caleb…what happened to Will was more than a physical assault." Cornelia said while sitting next to him and taking his hand, trying to explain it for him a little better. "She's dealing with a lot of difficult stuff right now. Her mother's boyfriend, a teacher at our school did some horrible things to her."

"I'm worried about Phobos having something horrible up his sleeve for that little girl he kidnapped." Caleb sighed.

"Look, just give it until tomorrow then maybe we can figure out what to do. There isn't any school tomorrow so maybe we can arrange something to get the girl back." Cornelia said, "And promise me that you won't go off and try rescuing her without us."

"But." Caleb started but was interrupted by Taranee.

"No buts Caleb, this is very important. If Will is feeling okay tomorrow this might help her gain back some of her confidence and you getting captured will only make it harder for us to rescue the girl." Taranee said.

"Okay…for now I won't try anything." Caleb sighed in defeat.

"Thank you, Caleb." Cornelia said kissing his cheek.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN:

SENSHI: Thanks everyone who's left reviews or comments about this story. I hope everyone is enjoying it even if they didn't leave reviews.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne


	8. Chapter 8

The Power of Love

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

SENSHI: Hi everyone, sorry about this being a week late but my daughter got sick last weekend so I didn't have much time to write and since I called off school a couple days I ended up with a lot of make-up work to do. I didn't have much time to work on my parts of this until the last couple of days.

CH33T4H: Don't worry about it, shit happens.

SENSHI: You're right, but you do realize that if you would tone down a little bit more we could probably move the rating to T?

CH33T4H: I don't care about the rating, it's a good story and if people don't want to read it because of its rating then too damn bad.

SENSHI: I guess so.

CH33T4H: Good, we don't own W.i.t.c.h. or Neurotically Yours or any of their characters. And if you want Foamy, Senshi has finally given in and let me put some rants in here so check it out after the story. R & R people, damn it I want reviews.

SENSHI: Why, I do all the answering.

CH33T4H: And you do a fine job of it girl, a damn fine job.

Susan slowed down as she got closer to Will, noticing her daughter starting to shake while looking at her with fear in her eyes. Why would Will be afraid of Susan? She didn't know but it felt like someone was tearing her heart out to see Will actually take a step back as if trying to decide to run or not.

"Will…it's okay." Susan said reaching her hand out towards Will who took another step back while shaking her head.

"They…didn't tell you?" Will asked softly, shock and pain in her voice as she watched Susan wearily.

"Tell me? About what happened? I know honey, it'll be okay." Susan said calmly while the few gathered there watched in sympathy.

"It's okay, Will." Hay Lin said.

"What's wrong, Will?" a boy asked that Susan didn't recognize.

"Please Will, don't…don't back away from me. I just want to help." Susan said softly, tying to sound comforting.

"I didn't want to…please…please don't hate me, mom." Will begged as tears started to slowly make there way down her cheeks.

"Will, I could never hate you, I love you so much." Susan said softly as she quickly covered the distance to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her. Will struggled to get away for a few moments before breaking down and crying into her mother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, momma…" Will sobbed, her whole body shaking with sobs as Susan held on to her tightly.

"Will, there's nothing for you to be sorry about. None of this was your fault." Susan whispered into Will's ear while stroking her back. "I love you, no one or no thing will ever change that."

Susan looked up and saw a pained face on Ted's face as he moved over to Hay Lin who was crying and hugged her, trying to comfort her. Tom was looking at the new boy with suspicion on his face which Susan could understand a little, he was probably just being protective of Will. Glancing over to the new boy Susan almost gasped in shock, the boy's eyes was glowing…really glowing and he looked really angry. Blinking Susan looked again and chalked it up to her imagination or maybe her own tears playing tricks as he was only now looking on in worry.

"Why don't we go inside." The new boy suggested.

"I think I should take Will home." Susan said softly, "Tom, would you mind driving us? My car is still at work."

"Sure thing, Susan." Tom said sadly.

"Wait…" Will sniffed pulling away from Susan, "I…I need to…the pet store…"

"Will." The new boy said taking Will's hand and looking her deep in the eyes, "Go home, talk to your mom and get some rest. I'll be here to help Mr. Olsen close up but you need to go home for now."

"B-But…" Will tried to protest but the new boy stopped anything before she said it with a finger on her lips.

"No buts, Will…I'll see you maybe tomorrow but for now go home." The boy said, "You need some time alone with your mom. Just promise me that you won't try anything else."

"I…thank you Phil." Will said with a sad smile, "I…I promise."

"Anything else?" Susan asked softly, unsure about what they were talking about. What did Will try to do?

"It's not really that important now…" Will said softly.

"She needs to know, Will, she cares about you." Phil said, kissing her forehead which shocked and slightly angered Susan. Who was this boy to be acting like that with Will, especially after everything that has happened lately. "When I finally found Will…she was about to jump off the bridge."

"What?" Susan cried out in alarm, her little girl was trying to kill herself?

"I'm sorry." Will said softly, looking away from everyone.

"Come on sweety, lets go home and we can talk more there." Susan said taking Will's hand.

Susan watched sadly as Will let herself be guided to the patrol car, noticing the fear and uncertainty that the young redhead was still feeling. The ride home was short but the stifling silence in the car made it seem to take an eternity. Will refused to look up at Susan or Tom, her mood seemingly changing from happy to nervous to scared over and over again as Susan watched the emotions playing across Will's face the best she could.

"Will…Susan" Tom finally said as he pulled up in front of Susan and Will's apartment building. "If you ever need anything…Anna and I will be there for you and I'm sure Irma will be too."

"Thank you Tom." Susan said as she flashed him a small, sad smile.

"Thanks." Will said softly but the tone of her voice worried Susan a lot. It seemed Will either didn't believe him or just didn't care. Susan never heard Will talk like that before. "Can we please just get this over with?"

"Get what over with?" Susan asked, hand froze on the door handle.

"I…can we just go please?" Will asked, sounding and looking like she was about to cry.

"We'll see you later, Tom. Thank you." Susan said getting out of the car and letting Will out. Susan shook her head sadly though as she watched Will walk rigidly away from the car. Bending over to look into the car before shutting the door she whispered, "I'm sorry, Tom."

"It's okay, Susan, I just hope that she will be okay." Tom said.

"Me too…" Susan said as she quietly closed the door and hurried to catch up with Will.

"I'm sorry, mom." Will whispered, hugging herself tightly while they walked toward the elevator.

"Will…none of this is your fault." Susan said as she reached an arm around Will and pulled her close while she pushed the call button for the elevator. Will stiffened as she was pulled closer to Susan which worried Susan even more, something very big was bothering Will. "I love you…you know that, don't you?"

"I wish I did…" Will sighed as the elevator opened.

Susan wanted to cry when she heard Will say that but she led Will onto the elevator while trying to figure out what to do or say. She was losing her daughter though and she knew it and it was mostly her own fault for it if not all of her fault.

After the elevator stopped on their floor and opened Will pulled lose and walked quickly out and toward their door and was there opening it moments before Susan could catch up. Susan followed Will in and shut the door and stopped Will as she was heading to her bedroom.

"Please Will…please talk to me." Susan begged, she was hoping that now that they were home Will would open up now.

"Mom…please stop it…" Will cried as she spun around with fresh tears falling, "I know you hate me…just say it! I'm a worthless whore for sleeping with your boyfriend!"

"Will?" Susan gasped in shock at the amount of anger and pain in Will's voice, "You…you are not a whore and I'd never think that of you, you're my daughter."

"I saw you calling me that!" Will cried, waving her wand through the air, "I seen it…the heart…they couldn't have been dreams…it showed me what you would think of me!"

"The heart…Will, I don't understand what your talking about…is that what you've been dreaming about?" Susan asked in sudden understanding of what was going through Will's mind, "Honey…you are the most precious thing in my life…you are my daughter and I love you. Do you honestly think I'd hate you for what he forced you to do?" Susan tried to move closer to Will but she kept baking away with an increasingly wild look growing in her eyes.

"Why not?" Will half sobbed and half screamed, "You chose him over me before what's stopping you from doing it again!"

"Oh god…Will…" Susan whispered in shock, feeling tears of her own falling. No wonder Will was acting like this, she was terrified of Susan blaming and abandoning her. "I don't care what happens to that bastard, I hope he rots in hell…Will, I know I screwed up before…I wish I never got involved with him but this is my fault, not yours. Will, this is MY fault and I'm so sorry…"

"Mom?" Will asked in shock, staring hopefully in Susan's eyes.

"Will…I'm so sorry you had to pay for this…you didn't deserve what he did to you…" Susan cried trying to pull Will into an embrace and sighed in relief when Will let her.

"You…you aren't going to hit me…throw me away?" Will cried in Susan's arms.

"I'd never do that to you Will but if I ever get my hands on that bastard I'll kill him." Susan cried as she held her daughter tightly, not wanting to let go. "I love you so much honey…I don't know what this heart thing is but I'd never do that to you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Will wanted to believe her mother so much, at first when Susan found her at the pet shop she was sure her mother was going to reject her. When Susan didn't reject her she turned hopeful that just maybe all they were was just nightmares, bad dreams of her worst fears. Then when Susan seemed to want to hurry home Will realized it was all just an act, Susan was really going to reject her like in the dreams which brought another realization. The dreams were too real to be just that, they had to be visions of the future from the heart of candracar. A small part of her kept asking how that was even possible but ever since she had gained the heart everything she once believed impossible had become very possible.

"I love you so much honey…I don't know what this heart thing is but I'd never do that to you." Susan cried as she held onto Will as if she would disappear if let go.

"Mom…I…could have fought him off…" Will said, trying to regain control over herself, "I have something that I could have used…I…it just happened so fast…"

"Will…I don't blame you." Susan said, kissing the top of her head, "I love you."

"I'm serious mom." Will said pulling back away from Susan though she was reluctant to let go. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea but she had to tell her mother the truth and then if Susan still didn't reject her then maybe it really would be okay.

"Will…even if you was the strongest girl on earth, I'm sure you didn't expect what he was going to do…and by the time you realized…"

Will pulled the heart out from under her shirt and around her neck and held it out toward Susan to see which stopped the older woman from finishing what she was going to say. Holding her palm face up Will let the heart glow and raise from her hand to float just above it. Its color was a little darker now for some reason but it had actually been that was since it happened.

"Wh-What is that?" Susan asked reaching out to touch it but pulled back just before she touched it.

"I-It's the Heart of Candracar, mom…Not long after we moved here I received it." Will said trying to decide how much to tell. Looking at her mother looking in wonder at the floating jewel Will smiled mentally. At least her mother wasn't freaking out which was a good sign. She decided to tell her mother everything.

"Wh-What does it do?" Susan asked looking back up in Will's eyes. Will could almost see relief in her eyes as they looked at each other. Why would Susan feel relief over seeing this unless…Unless Susan was happy that Will was no longer accusing her mother of planning to turn against her.

"It gives me the power to seal tears between our world and another, more dangerous world." Will said, "I…It changes me into a guardian of the veil"

"What's that?" Susan asked in confusion.

"This." Will said holding the heart up a little higher before she was enveloped in a bright tear drop of energy, its power cocooning her before releasing Will in her guardian form.

"Wow…" Susan breathed as Will landed softly back on the ground.

"Wow?" Will asked, actually surprised her mother was taking this so well. Looking closer Will could see fear and confusion in Susan's eyes but also love and acceptance.

"Yes…you're really beautiful…like some kind of fairy." Susan said smiling before letting it drop in a frown.

"You fight things from this other world? Dangerous things?" Susan asked. Will sighed mentally, she should have known that was coming.

XXXXXXXXXX

Caleb crouched behind some bushes near the town square as he watched Cedric guarding the little girl he came to rescue while Elyon walked into a store.. This was no problem, he knew he could do this without the guardians' help but he still felt a little bad about lying to them…to Cornelia. He understood Will's need to have a little peace after what happened and the others reluctance at coming without her and the heart but they couldn't wait for her to save this girl. Phobos could be planning to sacrifice her for some kind of spell or for some other sinister plot.

He found a portal much easier than he thought he would and decided to come here himself and rescue the girl. It didn't take much for him to find Cedric, Elyon and the girl leaving the castle since the guards for some reason seemed to be slacking off more than normal. He followed them closely into town where he was at now waiting for just the right moment to rush out and grab the girl and escape before Cedric could do anything but he also needed to do it while Elyon was gone. Elyon was a factor Caleb didn't want to think about at the moment because she was still deluded into believing Phobos was good. He vowed to himself that soon he would rescue her as well and restore the light to Meridian.

Smiling to himself as Cedric turned from the girl to growl at several people who ran into him on accident Caleb took a deep breath and ran out to grab the girl making sure to cover her mouth until they got out of hearing range of Cedric. He ran for several minutes while zigg zagging through alley ways in hopes of losing any pursuit which there seemed to be none.

Sighing in relief he sat the girl down who immediately started crying loudly which caused him to cringe. He didn't have a clue on what to do, he never had to deal with such a little girl before, especially one who must have been terrified after the ordeal that Phobos had put her through.

"I want my auntie!" the little girl cried loudly.

"Shhh…SHHHH…It's okay, I'm going to take you back to your family." Caleb whispered soothingly.

"Back to the castle?" the girl asked hopefully.

"No…back to your real family." Caleb said causing the girls cries to grow louder as she backed away from him.

"NO!" the girl cried loudly causing Caleb to have to cover her mouth again. Where could he take her though until he could free her father once found? The rebel base really wasn't the best of places but neither was out in the open. Maybe he should have waited a little longer and made better plans. No, if he did Phobos may have done something. The only place he had to turn to was the guardians.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will laid in her bed with her cell phone in her hands bringing up Hay Lin's number hoping the other girl would answer. She wanted someone else to talk to and she did promise to talk to Hay Lin so why not now?

She was feeling better after talking with her mom and learning that her nightmares was just that, bad dreams and not visions from the heart. Will could see the hatred and anger in Susan's eyes but it wasn't directed at her, it was directed at Mr. Collins which surprised Will.

It was a little hard for Will to believe though, Susan had chosen Mr. Collins over her so many times since they had gotten together that Will was beginning to think she was going to get abandoned anyway. It had hurt her so much every time her mother seemed to treat him better than her own daughter at times.

"Hello." Hay Lin's voice asked coming over the small cell phone.

"Hey Hay Lin." Will said into it as she held it up so she could talk into it.

"Will, are you okay?" Hay Lin asked worriedly.

"Yeah…I think so…I'm really sorry for the way I've been acting lately." Will said sadly into the phone while curling up a little.

"Don't worry about it Will, I just want you to be okay. I'm really worried about you." Hay Lin said.

"Thanks…" Will said, it was hard to gauge Hay Lin's voice over the phone, the tone of it was so soft that it was actually a little hard to hear.

"How are things going with your mom?" Hay Lin asked, even softer than before.

"A lot better than I thought they would." Will sighed, "I was so scared Hay Lin…she…she chose him over me so many times I was starting to think she didn't…didn't want me around anymore."

"Will…Your mother loves you, I've seen the way you two get along." Hay Lin said.

"Not when it comes to him, Hay Lin…" Will said.

"Is that why Irma says you refused to tell her dad who it was?" Hay Lin asked before gasping. Apparently Hay Lin wasn't supposed to say it and it did hurt Will a little that they were talking about this behind her back like that.

"I…I guess Hay Lin…I mean he was my mom's boyfriend…a guy she seemed to chose over me more often than naught, how would you feel?" Will said, tears slowly working their way down her face again. It hurt to think about it, everything from his relationship with her mother to what he did to her.

"I never knew, Will…I'm so sorry." Hay Lin said.

"Don't worry about it." Will said.

"Hay Lin, Caleb is on the phone downstairs for you…says its really important." Will heard Yan Lin's voice drifting over the phone.

"I guess I'll talk to you later." Will said with a sigh as she hung up. She turned over and sat the phone on the stand and turned the lamp off before pulling her covers over her. She wanted to try and get some sleep and hopefully with him still being held and knowing her mother didn't hate her she might actually sleep a little without the bad dreams plaguing her.

"Good night, Will." The night light said, its bulb glowing a little brighter.

"Good night, Mr. Hoppy." Will said as her dormouse jumped up on her pillow and looked at her. Will pulled him close, snuggling and closed her eyes with a small sigh. Hopefully things could start getting back to normal now but she doubted it. She had to give Tom an answer by noon the next day or he'd be forced to let Mr. Collins out which she wasn't too sure she wanted to do.

XXXXXXXXXX

FOAMY: You know what really pisses me off? All you dumb bastards who don't have any stories, who can't write a sentence worth a shit or probably can't even read leaving flames pissing on authors hard work just because they don't like something in the story. Who the hell do you think you are anyways, stupid bastards. If you want to bitch about something how about bitching about how you have your head stuck so far up your ass you are actually suffocating on your own putrid stench instead of a something happening in the story which you obviously never bothered reading anyways.

Here's an e-mail from a reviewer (note: e-mail is just an example)

Dear Foamy,

Why the hell do you get paining Will with Phobos? Your story sucks and you suck.

Signed,

Dumb Bastard.

Well, Dumb Bastard, that was an interesting letter and after hours of having experts decipher it so I can actually read it here is my response.

Dumb Bastard,

Thank you for your e-mail now here is a suggestion for you. Try writing something instead of just hitting random keys, you stupid jackass. It's called grammar and spelling, check it out it really helps getting other people to understand what you are saying.

Signed,

Your Lord and Master,

Foamy

P.S. I hope somebody pokes you in the eye with a hot flame you stupid bastard.

XXXXXXXXXX

SENSHI: How did I let you talk me into this…I don't think there will be another Foamy's rant.

CH33T4H: Awww, come on, you loved it. You know you want more.


	9. Chapter 9

The Power of Love

By The Senshi of Valis & CH33T4H GRL

Phobos tiredly returned to the castle, exhausted after being out all night with the guards searching for Kari, the little girl he was thinking more and more of as his own daughter even though it had only been two days since he had met her and now she was gone. He never thought he could miss someone so much. Was this how the two who kidnapped Elyon all those years ago to protect her from him feeling now? Sitting in the dungeon worried out of their minds about Elyon, wondering if she was safe.

Phobos shook his head, he didn't want to think about it right now, all he wanted was to find Kari but he was beginning to think that she may not even be in Meridian. Kari could be anywhere on Metamoor…or Earth. The only description he could find of the man who kidnapped Kari actually sounded a lot like the rebel who enjoyed hanging out with the guardians on Earth. He needed to return to Earth and look there and he really should at least check in on Will as well.

"Any luck, bro?" Elyon asked in hope as Phobos walked in the front gates.

"Not yet sister but I think I may know where to look." Phobos said, "I'll probably be gone for awhile."

"Let me come to." Elyon begged.

"No, please stay here in case one of the guards comes back with news about Kari." Phobos said though he was also worried about Elyon's safety as well. True when he found Elyon and tricked her into coming he was planning on stealing her power and killing her. As he got to know her he started having doubts about his plans but he was still planning on going through with them. Now, in less than a week Phobos had been on an emotional roller coaster as his world was turned upside down as Will seemed to manage to completely thaw the ice from his heart. He couldn't even bring himself to think about harming Elyon now, just thinking about that worthless creature beating such a young child angered him, and thinking about the rare smile that graced Will's lips made his heart stop.

"I guess someone should just in case." Elyon agreed reluctantly.

"Thank you dear sister." Phobos said surprising both of them by kissing the top of Elyon's head before turning to walk back out of the castle heading for the portal he had set up to travel back and forth to Earth.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will finished putting the last dish away from breakfast as her mother talked on the phone with Mr. Lair about Mr. Collins. After being bugged by it all during breakfast Will had finally agreed to press charges against Mr. Collins for what he did but she really didn't want to. Right now she just wanted to forget about the whole thing, her mother really cared about her and wasn't going to abandon her which at the moment was good enough for Will.

"Will said she will come by after she finishes at the pet store this morning." Susan said, her voice easily carried from the living room where she was sitting on the couch with the phone. "I'll be by soon though, I…I want to talk to him a little…I…I have to know why he did something like this."

Will froze in her tracks as she was starting to head to the living room to join Susan but couldn't believe what her mother had just said. Susan wanted to talk to Mr. Collins but why? Susan wasn't going to forgive him was she…she wasn't going to change her mind and chose him, was she?

"I…I want to hurt him so much Tom…he's caused her so much pain…I know, Tom, I won't do anything rash but…Okay, I'll see you then, bye."

Sighing Will started walking toward the living room again, she didn't want to deal with all of this trouble but she didn't know what else to do. She just wanted to forget the whole thing and move on with her life, not make such a big deal out of it which she knew was going to just come back and cause her more trouble and grief. What could she do though, it seemed everyone wanted Will to go through with this, especially her mother and she was tired of fighting it.

"Don't forget to meet me at the station today Will." Susan said as Will entered the room. Susan got up from the couch and hugged Will kissing the top of her head.

"I won't mother…" Will sighed, she wasn't too sure about it but she would go.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I want to go home!" Kari wailed as Cornelia plugged her ears and glared at the rebel leader. She loved the boy but sometimes…

"Caleb, you could have been hurt or killed." Cornelia said, worry finally winning out over her anger as Hay Lin tried to soothe the crying girl. They were in the Silver Dragon's basement in Caleb's small apartment and someone was sure to notice the crying sooner or later, most likely sooner.

"I promise you, be good and this afternoon we will take you back after I get done at work." Hay Lin said stroking the young girl's hair.

"Promise?" Kari asked.

"I promise." Hay Lin said, "But you have to be good for Cornelia and Caleb until then. Can you do that honey?"

"I gu-guess." Kari hiccupped while rubbing her eyes.

"Thank you." Hay Lin said.

"What?" Cornelia asked incredously, Caleb had promised to spend the entire day alone with her, no kid was a part of those plans.

"This is Caleb's mess so he is going to help fix it." Hay Lin said, glaring at the two.

"But I promised…" Caleb started.

"No buts." Hay Lin demanded, crossing her arms.

"Fine." Cornelia sighed, brightening a little as she came up with a plan. She would call Taranee and Irma and see if she could get one of them to take care of the girl today until they could all get together in the evening and find a portal and sneak the girl back to her family. That was one thing that was bothering her though, there was something wrong with the whole thing but Cornelia just couldn't put her finger on it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will was a little worried about Mr. Olsen as she finished cleaning the last of the pets and making sure that they had food and water. It was the kitten that seemed to have adopted Phil and really didn't eat much when he wasn't around but it was eating some now which was a relief. Maybe she should give it to Phil, surely he would give the little kitten a good home.

Mr. Olsen though had done something he barely ever did, he decided to not open up and was planning on going home after taking care of the animals since he really wasn't expecting to see Will come in but she finally convinced him to go home and let her take care of the animals.

She was a little disappointed though since Phil had yet to come in, she was hoping to see him before she had to deal with the rest of the day. Seeing Phil had actually become one of the high spots of the last few days that had been filled with so few happy moments or even semi happy moments. She still couldn't believe she was going to kill herself the day before but a part of her kept wanting to just end it, to be free from everything.

The door chime thankfully distracted Will from her thoughts causing her to look toward it and smile at the sight of Phil coming in. Her smile quickly faded when she saw the serious and worried expression marring his features.

"Hi Phil…are you okay?" Will asked nervously, she had never seen him like this before.

"Yeah…I'm sorry Will but I won't be able to come in today or tomorrow…I have…Family matters I have to deal with but I wanted to make sure that you are okay." Phil said, his voice sounding odd to Will.

"It's okay, Phil, I understand." Will said.

"I should be back in a couple of days though." Phil said embracing Will causing her to freeze up momentarily before relaxing in his gentle arms. He gently kissed the top of her head and whispered in her hair, worry clearly in his voice. "Promise me that you will still be here when I get back."

"I promise." Will said, trying to calm down. She was terrified of him holding her like this and was trying to calm down while at the same time a part of her was begging that he wouldn't leave and would keep holding her.

"I…I really care for you Will…I…I don't want to see anything happen to you." Phil whispered squeezing a little tighter, "I…I don't want to lose you."

"You won't, I promise." Will said, leaning up to kiss his cheek but missed when he turned his head at the last second to look at her curiously. Her lips brushed against his in a tender kiss which sent so many conflicting emotions through Will. She pulled back quickly looking a little frightened at Phil.

"I didn't mean…I'm sorry." Phil said dejectedly, trying not to look at Will.

"Please, Phil, don't be sorry." Will said catching her breathe and steeling herself to move back to Phil again and leaning up to kiss him again. She didn't know why but this just felt so right with him. After a few moments they pulled away from each other looking deeply in each others eyes. "Phil…If you really mean it…I…I would like to get to know you better to. I…I really like you to."

"I'd like that." Phil said with a smile, looking curiously at Will. It took a few moments to figure out that he was probably looking at her now red face from blushing but she didn't care. "I'm really sorry Will, but I have to go. I'll see you later."

"I'll see you later." Will said as she walked with him to the door and closed it after he left, leaning back against it with a large smile. She couldn't believe she kissed him but she was glad she did.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Cornelia…If Will is still upset then I don't think this is a good idea." Caleb said looking at the little girl then back at Cornelia as they walked to the pet store where Will worked. "I don't want to upset her anymore."

"Relax Caleb, it'll be fine. She'll be at the store all day and Kari can just hang out there and play with the animals. It's perfect then we can keep our plans." Cornelia said happily.

"If you say so." Caleb said, still unsure if this was a good idea or not. He did want to hang out with Cornelia today, they didn't have much time together by themselves lately and he was looking forward to today. Maybe Cornelia was right, what harm could the little girl do by playing with the animals and Will wouldn't even have to keep too good of an eye on her if she was distracted by all the strange animals they kept as pets here.

"Trust me, Caleb, everything will be fine." Cornelia said as they stopped outside the door to the petshop. Caleb saw the closed sign up but Cornelia just shrugged and checked the door. When it opened Cornelia just went inside followed by Kari and then Caleb. Why would the pet shop be closed anyways?

"Cornelia, Caleb, what are you doing here?" Will asked in shock, her expression taking on a bit of a guilty look when her eyes fell on Cornelia.

"We were wondering if you could do us a small favor, Will." Cornelia said.

"Sure." Will said, looking curiously at Kari. "Who's she?"

"This is Kari, she was kidnapped from her family on Metamoor." Cornelia said, "We are going to take her back later tonight and help her find them."

"He took me." Kari said, glaring at Caleb.

"Phobos took her from her family." Caleb said which only earned a more intense glare from the girl.

"I guess I can look after her for a little while." Will sighed. Caleb wasn't too sure but it looked like Will didn't really want to but before he could say anything Cornelia was dragging him out of the shop.

"Thanks Will, we'll see you later." Cornelia called back right before the door closed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So…what would you like to do?" Will asked, smiling at the little girl.

"Nothing…I want to go home." Kari frowned, crossing her arms looking like she was going to cry.

"Why don't you tell me about your home?" Will said taking the girl's hand and leading her behind the counter to a chair and let the girl sit down while Will pulled up another one for herself.

"I want to go back home to Auntie Elyon, Uncle Cedric and Daddy." Kari said sadly.

To say Will was shocked when she heard this would be an understatement, Auntie Elyon…Uncle Cedric? What was going on here?

"Kari…Who is your daddy?" Will asked softly.

"Prince Phobos…He…He saved me from my real daddy." Kari said hugging herself.

"Saved you?" Will asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"My real daddy used to hit me a lot, my new daddy said that bad things would happen to anyone who hurt a child from now on." Kari said, "Daddy isn't bad like everyone says he is, he's really nice. Auntie plays with me a lot too and Uncle gives me piggy back rides a lot. I'll tell you a secret too…Daddy is in love with someone…I might be getting a new mommy too."

"You're serious?" Will asked in total shock. She could feel that the girl was telling the truth and despite how much she wanted to deny it, something was telling her it was all real and it was wrong not to take the girl back to what she felt was her family. There was no way Will was going to allow the girl to be returned to an abusive father, even if he was the girl's real father.

"Yes." The girl nodded with a smile.

"If you promise not to tell anyone about how we get back and who I am I'll take you back now." Will said, surprised at herself for actually suggesting it but the excited look on the girl's face kept Will from changing her mind.

"I promise." Kari said.

Will smiled slightly and pulled out the heart of Candracar, concentrating on it causing it to glow and create an astral drop of herself. "If I'm not back by noon make sure you go to the station and meet my mom." Will told the astral drop before taking the girl's hand.

"Y-You're a guardian?" Kari asked in awe.

"Yep." Will said holding up the heart and creating a portal for them to step through to Metamoor. After they got through Will turned back around and sealed the portal so no accidents could happen involving the pet shop. "Now lets get you home."

"Thank you." The girl said happily letting go of Will's long enough for her to change into a guardian. Picking the girl up Will lifted slowly off the ground letting the girl get used to it. Kari cried out in surprise and excitement. It seemed Kari really loved to fly. It didn't take long for them to come into view of the castle and Will could see all the activity of guards gathering in the courtyard where Will was heading to land but they were giving her plenty of space as well. As she landed softly she saw the crowd of guards split as an angry Elyon came out.

"Do not attack her, she has Kari!" Elyon ordered. Cedric slithered out next to Elyon and glared at Will.

"Guardian…Give back Kari and you won't be harmed." Cedric growled.

"It's okay, she brought me back." Kari said rushing over to hug Elyon.

"I'm really sorry…I…" Will started to say.

"Silence guardian." Cedric hissed, moving over to Elyon to check up on Kari.

"Caleb took me but when Will found out what happened she brought me straight back." Kari said happily.

"Will?" Elyon asked in shock, looking at Will confusingly.

"I'm sorry, Elyon." Will sighed.

"Cedric, can you take Kari and make sure she's okay?" Elyon asked as Cedric picked up the little girl, "I want to have a little chat with the guardian."

"Of course princess…just be careful." Cedric said, worry clearly in his voice.

"Of course I will Cedric." Elyon said, smiling at Cedric who seemed to soften at that to Will's astonishment.

"Please…follow me." Elyon said, indicating for the guards to back off and for Will to follow. Will silently followed Elyon through several halls until they came to what looked like a throne room. After shutting the door Elyon whirled to face Will anger and hurt on her face.

"Is Cornelia one of you to?" Elyon demanded.

"What?" Will asked, not expecting this.

"She is, isn't she? That's why she didn't seem to want to spend much time with me just before I came here?" Elyon asked, sighing as her anger seemed to dissipate. "I know what my brother has done…What he had planned but he's changed in the last week. I won't let you hurt him."

"Elyon…How can you be sure that he's changed?" Will asked, shaking her head.

"I know him, Will. Before he never spoke with any emotion or caring, not even when he pretended to to me. But he met someone who he really cares for and made him take a look at what he had become and he has changed, Will. Everything he does now is because of her. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little hurt that I wasn't the one who changed him, I'm his sister, but after what he told me I guess I can understand why he did the things he did."

"What did he tell you?" Will asked. Curious. Elyon seemed so sure and with how much Kari seemed to care for Phobos it could very well be true. Would Kari actually care so much for him if he was mean or evil?

"Meridian is a matriarchal society, Will. Queens rule here but Phobos was first born and our parents…They were ashamed of him, they wanted a daughter to take over. They shunned him, treated him like dirt and even beat him. After so many years of it and secretly gaining power he killed them. No one would help him when he was being beaten so he made those people pay and suffer under him. I guess he didn't really trust me at first but…He loves me Will and I love him. We are the only family we have."

"Elyon…I never knew…" Will said softly, angered that Candracar would have let that happen. If they stepped in sooner maybe none of this would have happened.

"I don't blame him, Will. He is trying so hard to make things right. Did you know that he just made new laws to punish child abusers and rapists? I didn't even know they recognized those things here but he said he would not allow anyone else to be hurt like that." Elyon said.

"R-Rapists?" Will asked, the color draining from her face.

"Will…are you okay?" Elyon asked.

"Y-Yeah…It's nothing." Will lied.

"Will…I know you have the Seal of Phobos…Can I please have it back?" Elyon asked.

"But I can't open portals without it." Will said.

"Here." Elyon said removing a pendant with a glowing green gem in it and holding it out to Will, "This will let you open portals so please…give me the Seal."

"I guess…" Will said taking the pendant and as soon as she touched it it absorbed into the heart and in its place in her hand was the Seal of Phobos. "Are you sure you know what you are doing?"

"Yes." Elyon said taking the Seal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elyon sat anxiously in the throne waiting for her brother to get back. She knew all he needed to take her powers and kill her was the seal. It was the final component in the spell he had prepared. She was going to return the Seal to her brother but a part of her was worried about him still planning to do that.

"Sister?" Phobos asked tiredly but happily as he came through the doors, "A guardian returned Kari?"

"As well as this." Elyon said getting up to walk over to Phobos, holding out the Seal of Phobos. Phobos took the seal and studied it for several moments before handing it back.

"Thank you dear sister, but I don't think I'll be needing that anymore." Phobos said with a smile. Elyon couldn't help but smile back in return as she pocketed the Seal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Phobos was exhausted after He left Elyon but he still had one more thing he wanted to get done before retiring for the day. He quickly made his way to the dungeons where Thomas and Eleanor Brown was being held. Walking up to the bars he smiled as the Eleanor rushed to the bars, glaring at him.

"What did you do to my baby!" Eleanor demanded.

"Phobos, I swear if you hurt one hair on Elyon's head…I'll…I'll…" Thomas growled coming up beside his wife.

"I have a proposition for the two of you." Phobos said calmly.

"We don't want to hear any of your trash." Thomas growled.

"Thomas…I want to hear what he has to say." Eleanor said.

"You can't be serious." Thomas said.

"If it lets me see my baby then I'm dead serious Thomas." Eleanor said.

"Fine…What is it Phobos?" Thomas sighed.

"I'm willing to set you both free in exchange of you both taking up your old jobs as well as watching Elyon and protecting her and my daughter Kari." Phobos said, "You must give me your word that you won't try and kidnap either of them."

"I swear." Eleanor said.

"Eleanor…You can't be serious." Thomas said.

"Please…I have to see her." Eleanor cried.

"Fine…I swear." Thomas grumbled.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elyon was just about to turn in for the night when a light knock interrupted her from climbing into bed.

"Come in." Elyon said pulling on her robe.

"I wanted to say good night sister before you turn in." Phobos smiled, "As well as bring you a surprise."

"A surprise?" Elyon asked as her parents walked into the room. At first she was angry with them but she remembered that they did what they did to protect her, they loved her and she loved them. With a cry of happiness she launched herself in her parents arms as the three stood hugging and crying, happy to be reunited.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: Sorry it's been so long everyone but its been hard to get the chance to work on my stories lately. There's just been so much happening lately but I have been working on all three of my current stories as well as helping Brit with a couple of her own that she's going to be posting on her own account soon.

I hate to do this though but for the time being I won't be responding to every review I get until some of my workload, (school, personal, writing and helping Brit, and trying to catch up on corrections and stories I have backlogged to check out for my C2.) If you want a reply please PM or e-mail me or ask in your review and I'll reply. Please still review though since it helps decide where to go as well as helps me improve my stories. I will start replying to all reviews again soon though.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne


	10. Chapter 10

Will, actually her astral drop wondered toward the police station unsure what to do. She had gained all of the memories and feelings of the real Will but not the control the real Will had. After being created with the memories in the pet shop and the real Will left she collapsed on the floor of the pet shop and cried for who knew how long as she assimilated the memories and the full force of what happened hit her.

Now though she was going to the police station more than willing to press charges unlike the real Will. In fact she was so angry right now that she wanted to kill the bastard who hurt her. She wanted him to pay for it, she wanted him to suffer and to feel the pain that she was feeling now.

"Will?" Cornelia asked, walking up to her arm and arm with Caleb. Will wasn't in the mood to deal with them at the moment, she had enough crap to deal with.

"What do you want, Corny?" Will asked angrily. The real Will was forgiving but there was a part of her that still hurts and is angry with the blonde for everything she had said and done to Will since moving to Heatherfield. The problem was, the astral drop absorbed that too, only it seemed to be multiplied.

"Where is the girl?" Caleb asked confused.

"What is your problem, Will?" Cornelia asked, glaring at Will.

"Took her back to her father Prince Phobos." Will said, "And my problem is I have enough to deal with without having to deal with you!"

"WHAT?" Cornelia shrieked, "I know you are messed up but how could you do something so…so…STUPID! I can't believe…" Cornelia didn't have a chance to say anything more as she found herself sprawled out on the ground holding a very sore jaw where Will just punched her.

"If I'm so messed up then why did you leave a kid with me?" Will demanded as Caleb checked Cornelia, "Maybe because you are just a selfish, self centered bitch who thinks the world should revolve around her!"

"Will!" Caleb gasped in shock, obviously surprised by the amount of venom in Will's voice.

"Piss off lover boy, the two of you are meant for each other. If something doesn't fit into how you think it should be then of course its wrong because you sure the hell are never wrong, are you?" Will growled, "Screw this and screw you, I have t meet up with my mom and take care of another stupid bastard."

Will turned away from them and finished her trek to the station which wasn't very far at all. She rubbed her hand that she used to hit Cornelia, her knuckles sore but a sense of satisfaction from doing it pretty much overriding any discomfort.

"Hey Will." Mr. Lair said gently as soon as Will walked through the doors, "How are you feeling?"

Like crap? Like I want to just end it all? How about wanting to make that bastard suffer more than I ever did? "Okay I guess." Will said, smiling weakly at Mr. Lair. He was a nice, kind man and didn't deserve to have her anger taken out on.

"Your mom is talking to him right now…If you want…I can take you to them." Mr. Lair said.

"Sure." Will said hoping to catch a little of what they were talking about. She loved her mother just like the real Will but she wasn't prepared to fully forgive or believe in the older woman. Susan had betrayed her so many times when she took Mr. Collins side or chose him over her so many times.

Will followed Mr. Lair back through some hallways into the back to what she guessed was a visitation or interrogation room. Hearing familiar voices caused her to stop in shock as Susan and Mr. Collins arguing could easily be heard through the door.

"Drunk? Do you honestly think that makes things any better!" Susan screamed, more anger in her voice than Will ever heard before.

"I'm sorry, Susan." Mr. Collins said, "I…I'm Sorry."

"You're sorry? You bastard, you hurt my little girl and that's all you can say! You better thank god that you're in here because if you wasn't I'd kill you myself!" Susan shouted, choking a little almost sounding like she was fighting to stop from crying.

"I'm sorry, Will." Mr. Lair said, "I told your mom I'd bring you back here to meet her but maybe you should wait out in the loby."

"It's okay." Will sighed, very confused. She was sure that Susan would have at least sympathized with the man a little but she didn't. She was choosing Will over him, she was choosing to back Will up. A part of her was sure that she would have heard something different but this…this was totally unexpected for her.

"I hope they send you away for the rest of your life!" Susan snarled and stormed out of the room with tears freely falling.

"Mom?" Will asked, unsure of what to do.

"Will?" Susan gasped when she saw Will, her eyes widening in shock as she wiped at her eyes.

"A-Are you okay?" Will asked a little timidly. Unlike the real Will, she didn't have an easy time letting go over what happened in the past between Susan and herself.

"I'm okay dear." Susan said hugging Will. "Will…If you don't want to…If you don't want to go through with this you don't have to."

"I want to mom." Will said quietly, anger and depression fighting for dominance inside of her. "I…I want that bastard to pay for what he did."

"I have everything ready actually, all you have to do is fill out exactly what happened and sign it and then have your mom sign it since you are still technically a minor." Mr. Lair said leading them into another small room where there was some papers laying on the only table in the room. Sitting down Will started filling out the papers and realized how much different she felt over everything that happened than the real Will did. The real Will was hurting but she seemed to be dealing with it. The astral drop Will, she wanted to be held be her mother and cry. She wanted to kill the bastard who did this to her. She wanted…She wanted to end it all. It wasn't fair, why was she feeling this way when the real Will wasn't? What was wrong?

"Finished?" Mr. Lair asked when Will sat the pen down and pushed the papers towards Mr. Lair.

"Yes." Will sighed as Susan took the pen and signed the papers as well.

"Can we please stop by the pet shop mom, I want to make sure the animals are okay and have water and food." Will asked.

"Sure honey, I'll even help you." Susan said.

"Thanks mom." Will said.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was late in the afternoon when Will finally managed to get back from Metamoor and she was exhausted both emotionally and physically. It was so hard to believe what was happening but she knew it was all true somehow. She could sense when tings were true or not sometimes, it was usually a very strong feeling about it and it was always right. She was sure it had something to do with the heart.

She needed to stop off at the pet shop and clean the animals before heading home though. When she walked in the door though she was surprised to find her astral drop and her mother finishing up with the pets.

"Will!" Susan gasped in shock, looking back and forth between the astral drop and Will herself.

"It's okay mom, this is my astral drop…She's kind of a temporary magical clone of me." Will said pulling out the Heart of Candracar.

"So it wasn't you today?" Susan asked a little surprised.

"Sorry mom, I had to help a little girl get back to her family." Will said.

"Is Kari okay?" the astral drop askd with concern.

"She's okay." Will said holding up the heart, "Pord Lartsa!" The heart glowed momentarily but the astral drop didn't disappear. "Wh-What's wrong?

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: Sorry about the cliffhanger and how short the chapter is but I'm just getting over being really sick which reminds me, thanks so much for all your help with my daughter Brit.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne


	11. Chapter 11

"So let me get this straight…" Susan sighed rubbing her temples with her thumb and forfinger, "You," pointing at Will, "Are my real daughter and she," pointing to Will's astral drop, "Are a magical replica of my daughter."

"Yes." Will sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time, she was all ready agitated over her astral drop not dissolving but now her mother kept repeating things over and over again. Looking over to her astral drop she was actually surprised to see the girl looking sad. It was kind of weird, the astral drops may seemed alive but they were just basic copies of the girls when needed. They never displayed much intelligence or emotion if you bothered to really look, they were more like some kind of place holder for them. However, this astral drop wasn't dissolving and further more she seemed so real, almost too real for Will's taste. What had she done when she created it…her?

"She was created from you though, Will. She is an exact copy of you, you said but…She seems kind of different from you. And she seems far more alive that what you say she should be." Susan said.

"I am alive." The astral drop said, her voice full of depression and sadness, "I…I don't want to disappear. It…Its not fair."

"You won't honey." Susan said hugging the astral drop while the red haired girl cried. "You are every bit my daughter as Will is."

"Wh-What?" Will asked is shock.

"You said it yourself, honey. She is a duplicate of you but she seems so much more that that. But that still makes her a part of you so I'm either her mother or grandmother and I don't think I'm ready to be a grandmother yet." Susan said, smiling softly. She kissed the top of the crying girls head and said, "We can't call you both Will though, it would be just too confusing."

"But what about…How…" Will stammered trying to figure out how to express her feelings. She was torn between wanting to dissolve the astral drop and hugging the girl accepting her as a sister. But to do that would bring so many complications all around. Wouldn't it be better just to absorb her back into herself.

"We will work everything out Will, and I'll protect both of you. You are both my daughters and I do love you."

"R-Really?" the astral drop sniffed pulling away from Susan.

"Of course dear." Susan said with a smile.

"How about…Willow?" the astral drop asked.

"Willow?" Will asked.

"For my name, I kind of like it more than just being reffered to as Will." Willow said.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Will asked in shock, more proof to herself that this astral drop was so much more than what it was supposed to have been.

"Its just…I like Willow much better…Will…sounds more like a guys name." Willow said nervously.

"Boys name?" Will asked a little upset over that.

"You have to admit, it does honey." Susan laughed, leaving Will to stand there grumbling.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Eleanor sighed as she sat at a desk leafing through some paperwork that she sneaked from Prince Phobos's room. At first she only promised the Prince what she did to get free and check on Elyon until they could get a chance to escape. Seeing how the once cruel Prince was so happy as he spent time with Elyon and little Kari had to make her wonder if maybe the Prince was on the level about everything. So she sneaked into his chambers and searched until she found some important looking papers and brought them to her room to read and see if she could find any clues before she would sneak them back in. It had only been close to a day since her husband and herself was released and no matter how much she saw she still wasn't too sure she believed it despite how much she wished the kind little boy that she used to take care of had come back.

Looking at the papers she was shocked to see the penalties for some new laws since they sere rather severe but looking closer at the laws made her jaw drop. There were now laws in place for rape and child abuse. And it looked like he was working out laws for any kind of abuse as well as setting up a huge feast in the town square for the Harper's Day Celebration, a holiday that celebrated the freedom from the Empire that was once the ruling body of power around there. It was named after Eleanor Harper, one of Eleanor's ancestors and her namesake.

"You do know that its wrong to take things from other peoples rooms without their knowledge or permission?" a very familiar voice asked from behind her causing her to turn around in fright.

"P-Prince…" Eleanor started to say before the Prince's upraised hand signaled for her to stop.

"The only reason I let you and your husband live when you were captured was because you were one of the only people who was ever kind to me. I…I'm actually glad I did now seeing how happy you make Elyon. And…I'm glad that you are back to and I'm…I'm sorry for everything that I did to you." Phobos said with a sad smile.

"There is no need to apologize to me my Lord, I should be the one apologizing." Eleanor said.

"For what, being suspicious from a very good cause? I know that I have done some really cruel thing in the past and I am really sorry but I do intend to do my best to make up for it." Phobos said.

"The sunrise this morning was beautiful my Lord." Eleanor said with a small smile, the sun never hardly showed since Phobos took over because he used his powers to hide it in a never ending overcast sky. She knew the reason, he wanted the people who refused him and kindness to feel as helpless as he once was. This was once a constant reminder to them that who was now in charge.

"I thought it was about time to let a little light back into my sister's kingdom." Phobos said.

"Sister's?" Eleanor asked in surprise.

"You are not to tell anyone this but at the feast that I'm sure you read about I will be abdicating my throne to my sister, Meridian's rightful ruler." Phobos said, "I plan to retire and be with my daughter and hopefully the girl that I've grown very fond of."

"Are you sure that that is what you want to do?" Eleanor asked in shock.

"Very sure." Phobos said with a large smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: I meant to have this posted Friday or Saturday night but Brit wasn't completely done with her part so I'm sorry to everyone I told that this would be posted then. Also thanks to LordofDarkness2099 for suggesting the name Willow for Will's astral drop's name.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne


	12. Chapter 12

The Power of Love

By The Senshi of Valis & 5hadow Lady

It was Sunday morning, the last day off from school for the weekend when the new Vandom sisters sat at the table eating breakfast with their mother. A mother who wasn't too sure what to do after staying up most of the night thinking about how to explain the newest addition to their small family. Of course she could say Willow was Will's cousin but there simply no records of the girl. No social security records, no school records and no medical records. And after thinking about it, if Willow was originally supposed to be some magical clone of Will then it was safe to bet that they had the same finger prints and most likely the exact same DNA.

This didn't mean that she was giving up, she may have known Willow for a single night but she loved the young red head. She was as much her daughter as Will was and even though they were supposed to be the same they acted so differently. Will acted more like a tomboy while Willow acted the complete opposite. That wasn't the only opposites though, while Will seemed to be doing a lot better Willow was having a hard time as what that bastard did haunted her relentlessly making her waking hours miserable and her sleeping hours unbearable. Will seemed to hide what she was feeling for the most part while Willow didn't a whole lot.

"Mom…I've been thinking about it and…Can I please go see that therapist?" Willow asked shyly while playing with her scrambled eggs, pushing them back and forth with her fork.

"Of course you can honey, I'll call and make an appointment for as soon as possible." Susan said, "Would you like to go to Will?" Susan asked.

"I don't want to see some damned counselor." Will said finishing her breakfast, "Besides, I have too much to do right now with the pet shop."

"Will, it's nice that you are spending so much time helping out but you need time for yourself." Susan said.

"It's my damn fault he is as sick as he is now mom, I am not going to abandon him when he needs me!" Will snapped.

"Will!" Willow gasped, "Please don't…"

"Look, I'm sorry I snapped but I have to go or I'll be late." Will said pushing away from the table and leaving angrily. Susan wanted to go after her but Willow seemed to need her more at the moment.

"Are you okay, dear?" Susan asked moving to sit by Willow and pulling her into a hug.

"I…I don't know, mom…" Willow said a little tensely, "What…What are you going to do if this goes all the way to trial?"

"What do you mean, Willow?" Susan asked a little confused.

"If they call you to the stand…Will you…Will you really testify against him?" Willow asked, tears falling freely as she trembled a little. Susan hugged her tighter swearing to herself to tear that bastard to pieces if she ever got her hands on him. She had to wonder if Will was truthfully thinking the same thing as well, it was just so hard to tell but it scared her to think it was possible. She felt as if she was on the verge of losing Will completely as well as losing Willow, the daughter she just gained.

"Honey, I want to see that bastard pay for what he did to you." Susan said stroking Willow's hair, cursing herself once again for the choices she made since coming to Heatherfield and the trouble that it caused between mother and daughter.

"I'm sorry, mom…I just…I'm scared of being abandoned again…" Willow cried clutching Susan's shirt. "I…I don't want you to hate me…I don't want to…"

"Shh…I promise you I won't abandon you." Susan whispered into her new daughter's hair as she herself began to cry. What had she done to Will, in extension to Willow. Will must have felt the same was at least at some point and to some extent. Had she already lost Will, was it too late to get her daughter back and fix their relationship? "I…I love you so much Willow…I love you both so much and I'm so sorry for everything that I've done…This…It's all my fault…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Will walked quietly to the pet shop ignoring everything as she walked not wanting to deal with everything else. She was so tired of everything, her so called friends, her mother…her very life. She didn't know why she was feeling this way but ever since she woke up that morning she had been in a dark mood. She had a dreams during the night of Phil which had to her growing suspicions of him being Phobos himself. He betrayed her in her dreams, stealing the heart and destroying her heart at the same time when he laughed at her and forced himself on her. She was starting to feel he was only tying to betray her like everyone else had done recently one way or another.

Then again, her mom was acting so differently lately, no longer ignoring her and doting on Mr. Collins. A part of her blamed her mother for what he did to her, she couldn't help it after everything that happened recently. She knew her mother loved her and wanted to help, she even loved her mother but knowing and feeling where two completely different things and right now all she cold feel was the depression growing stronger turner her very thoughts darker. A part of her wandered if perhaps the counselor would be a good idea to go see, maybe they could help her sort her thoughts and feelings out where she was finding it difficult to do so.

Finally making it to the store she pulled the keys out and unlocked it going inside while still ignoring everything as she closed the door and locked it behind her. She screamed when a pair of arms circled her around the waist from behind and drew her into a masculine chest.

"Its me, Will, I'm not going to hurt you." Phil whispered as she struggled in his arms, finally turning around to come face to face with her nightmares from last night.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Will asked a little fearfully, looking into his kind and gentle eyes which started to relax her.

"Mr. Olsen was here earlier when I showed up so I helped him clean up and he went home." Phil explained, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her eye while still holding her around the waist with his other arm. "I stayed to tell you and hopefully spend a little time with you."

"Why…Why would you want to?" Will asked a little surprised, at both him and herself as she actually found the prospect of spending time with him appealing even though she was still a little frightened of him from her dream.

"Because I want to get to know more about you." Phil said softly, honesty in his expressive eyes. "You intrigue me…I've never met anyone who made me feel the things you do. I…I don't really understand it…I want to though…"

"You are probably feeling disgust…" Will said, a little jokingly though a little seriously as she thought about it. How couldn't he not be disgusted with her?

"I don't think so…If it was disgust I would know…I would never have rescued that child from that man…I probably wouldn't have even gave the scene a second look." Phil said leaning his face a little closer to Will's.

"Wh-What child?" Will asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you…" Phil said sadly.

"Try me." Will said, feeling his warm breath on her face. She was torn between kneeing him in the groin and leaning in to kiss him. She should be disgusted by how close he was to her, she hated the thought of him forcing her to do anything. And yet…She felt safe in his arms, loved and wanting to love him.

"I…I haven't been a very good person in my life because of what happened in my childhood. I let hate freeze my heart as I made the people who hurt me pay then I met this beautiful girl who melted the ice around my heart and made me see the things around me again. I found this man striking a small girl and…And I looked at her face…She reminded me so much of this girl and I refused to let him hurt her anymore so I stopped it. I…I started thinking about the pain I went through as a child, the pain the Goddess was in and the pain that child was in. I decided to stop trying to get vengeance and decided it was better to try and make a better world, to protect the ones who are close to me…I want to…I want to protect you…" Phil said, his speech sounded so truthful but it made Will certain of one thing, this was Prince Phobos.

"Do you recognize this?" Will asked pulling away from him and pulling out the Heart of Candracar.

"The Heart…" Phil gasped in shock, "You…You are a guardian…"

"Just take it." Will cried as she slammed it against his chest and turned away from him. She hugged herself tightly knowing that he was probably going to attack her now, finish her off while she was at her weakest. She was surprised when she didn't feel an attack, instead he gently turned her around and slipped the Heart back around her neck.

"I no longer want the Heart of Candracar." Phil whispered, stroking her cheek, then taking hold of her face gently while wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "The only heart I want is yours…"

Will didn't have time to respond when he captured her lips in a gentle, loving kiss. At first she started to struggle angrily until she actually found herself not only returning the kiss but deepening it. She wasn't sure how long they were there, locked deeply in a kiss but the banging on the front door brought them out of their tender moment.

"I…I'm sorry if I…" Phil started.

"Don't be sorry." Will said touching her lips, "I…I liked it."

"Will, please open up if you're in there." Irma's voice came from the other side of the door.

"I'm coming already, give me a minute will you!" Will called back while rubbing her eyes before giving Phil…Phobos a look that said, "I'm Sorry."

"Its okay, I'll be in the back so you can talk to your friend if you want." Phobos said.

"Thanks, I…I want to talk some after she leaves." Will said softly. She went to open the door as Phobos disappeared through the door to the back room and let an upset Irma into the pet shop.

"Will, is it true that you took that little girl back to the prince of evil?" Irma asked worriedly.

"Yep, she missed her father so I returned her." Will said.

"Will, he wasn't her father!" Irma snapped, a little anger in her voice.

"Yes he was, as far as I'm concerned he is a better father than a man who hits his own daughter for nothing." Will said angrily, was Irma turning on her now too? Of course she was, she was probably never really on her side anyways…

"What do you mean?" Irma asked a little shocked.

"I don't have to defend myself, Irma." Will said, "I did what I felt was right at the time."

"Will…Do you think that maybe you just wasn't thinking straight…You've been through a lot recently…" Irma said sadly.

"Irma, I didn't ask to suddenly have a child dropped on me out of the middle of nowhere when it should have been Caleb watching her if he was so worried about her." Will said, "The kid's dad beats the hell out of her and Phobos saved her from it…What would you rather me do, take her back to an abusive father or a man who cared enough to stop it?"

"But Phobos…" Irma started, pausing when trying to figure out what to say.

"Has changed, Irma…Face it, we are out of a job." Will sighed.

"Will, there is no way someone like that can just change overnight." Irma said.

"Irma, please just go for now." Will sighed, "I…I need some time to myself. I have a lot to think about."

"If you want I can stay…It helps having someone to talk to." Irma said.

"Irma…No offense but right now I don't know who to trust…" Will said sadly, "I can't trust my mom really…I can't trust you guys…I don't even really trust myself. I just need some time alone, please."

"If you're sure." Irma said sadly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"I…I do care for all of you." Will sighed hugging Irma, "I just need to sort out everything…Please understand…"

"Okay, but if you need anything just call me." Irma said.

"I will." Will promised before letting Irma leave.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: Sorry for the delay in updates, I really am trying to at least do 2 a week but depending on the type of week at school (Yes I have to do one more year because of some stuff beyond my control) I may not be able to keep to that schedule. I have not abandoned any of my stories but depending on what mood I'm in determines which story I work on. I will try not to start any new stories except for one that Brit and I are working on based on a story a friend of mine wrote, Sokai's "Requiem for a Dream" so check out the original in my fave stories or fave author's list and look for mine coming soon. Unfortunately, until I get caught up with some stuff I won't have time for much reading unless I want to fall back in writing and school work but I will be catching up on reading some of my fave author's and fave stories as soon as possible.

Until next Time,

Ja Ne


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